Somers Point, Mainland Regional, Upper Township still face tough decisions
Local school districts suffering yet another year of $1 million+ losses in state aid got some relief last week, although mostly on the backs of their local taxpayers.
How much it will help with the proposed staff cuts in the Mainland Regional High School, Upper Township and Somers Point school district budgets remains an open question, especially in light of the way the legislation is written.
Gov. Phil Murphy signed two bills May 14 “offering flexibility and relief to school districts across New Jersey as they work to finalize their 2024-2025 school budgets.”
According to the Governor’s Office, the first bill, A4161, aims to increase funding for districts that lost aid under S2, easing the effect of the final year of its seven-year phase-in as school districts adjust to funding levels calculated under the School Funding Reform Act of 2018.
By signing the legislation, the governor established a Stabilized School Budget Aid Grant Program in the Department of Education to provide grants equal to 45 percent of a district’s state aid reduction for 2024-2025.
The bill appropriates $44.7 million to support the program. In addition to providing supplementary state aid, the legislation allows certain districts experiencing reductions in state aid to request increases in their adjusted property tax levies in excess of the 2 percent cap to as much as 9.9 percent, placing the burden on residents of those districts.
The funding will help the financially struggling Mainland Regional High School, Somers Point and Upper Township districts, all of which had to cut staff and programs to meet this year’s 2 percent cap on tax levy increases.
According to Business Administrator Chandra Anaya, Mainland will be getting $635,722 back from the $1.4 million cut.
To make up for the initial loss, the district eliminated 17 staff positions. At the time, Chief School Administrator Mark Marrone said if the district were to get some of the funds back, renewing the staff members’ contracts may not be the best move.
“If money was to come back in, we have to take a look at what that looks like candidly,” he said. “I don’t know if you put yourself in a position for something to happen again next year.”
Marrone did not reply to a request for comment Friday.
According to interim Superintendent Chris Kobik, the Somers Point School District will receive $510,957 back of the funding cut for the 2024-25 school year.
Somers Point had to eliminate 13 staff positions, take $250,000 from its maintenance reserve and make other adjustments as part of this year’s budget process.
During the presentation in late April, Kobik said there were discussions at the state level regarding the return of some funding but noted it may not lead to restoration of staff and programs.
“We will continue to fight to get funds to be able to hopefully review some of those staff,” he said. “Why some? Because renewing all of them with the way the pending legislation is written, doesn’t provide us with enough money and creates a bigger fiscal cliff in 2025-26.”
Reached Friday, Kobik said the district hopes to use the funding to bring back three positions “to provide greatly needed interventions and support for our students.”
He said the district also hopes to use some of the funds to help stabilize the budget moving forward.
“While there are no current plans to raise additional funds through taxation, the board is well aware that years of 2 percent or less increases in an environment where costs continue to rise more than twice that amount leaves few options,” Kobik said. “We have already exercised significant reductions in staff. We are grateful for all the support from our community making sure that the voice of Somers Point was heard in Trenton. We need to continue to press for long-term remedies to how the state currently funds our schools.”
He said the Department of Education has provided districts with a timeline to amend budgets and repeat the approval process. Each district will have to hold another hearing on their spending plan before adoption.
In Upper Township, Superintendent Allison Pessolano said the district would be getting a return of $228,390.
The district, which was facing about a $4 million hole with the loss of state aid and a huge tuition adjustment from Ocean City School District, was forced to cut nine teaching staff positions and its security officers, as well as eliminate all of its kindergarten aide positions, after-school clubs and sports and courtesy busing.
“The return of the 45 percent state aid cut is certainly helpful, however is just a drop in the bucket when compared to the $6 million we have lost since the start of S2,” Pessolano said Friday.
She said school administrators would meet to “look at a variety of scenarios regarding the tax levy.”
“Once we have determined how much of an increase we feel is necessary to meet the needs of our students and allow us to provide a top-notch education, we will then submit our new budget to the county for approval,” she said.
The next Board of Education meeting is scheduled for June 24, when she said they hope to hold a public hearing for the adjusted budget.
“Our plan is to be thoughtful in our approach and to try to strike a balance between what we believe our district needs to support our educational programs and what we feel our community can support,” Pessolano said. “Although we are hesitant to raise taxes at all, I think our community is well aware of the devastating impact our continued state aid losses and other spending increases have had on our staff and programs.”
The law also created a new tax levy cap adjustment to allow one-time increases in 2024-25.
While the cap is 2 percent, all three districts already had exceeded that through the use of banked cap, with Mainland raising its levy 2.68 percent, Somers Point 4.45 percent and Upper Township 2.59 percent.
For non-Schools Development Authority districts, the levy can be increased by the district’s net reduction in state school aid in the 2024-25 school year compared to the 2020-21 school year up to a maximum of 9.9 percent of the previous year’s tax levy.
At Mainland, total state aid in fiscal year 2021 was $8,012,381, dropping to $6,773,208 in 2024-25, a difference of $1,239,173. That’s less than 9.9 percent of last year’s tax levy, so the district would be able to recoup all of that amount through increased taxation, if it chose that option.
The Somers Point School District received $5,699,531 in state aid for 2020-21 and just $2,366,186 for 2024-25, a difference of $3,3333,345. However, with a limit of 9.9 percent of the previous year’s tax levy, $10,600,625, the district can increase its levy only $1,049,462.
The Upper Township School District received $4,179,867 in state aid for 2024-24, down from $8,324,482 in 2020-21, a loss of $4,144,615. Increasing the tax levy by 9.9 percent would provide the district with only $2,727,468.
“From the onset of my administration, we have strived to ensure every child in New Jersey receives the top-notch education that has become synonymous with our state’s public education system. Through seven budget cycles, we have never wavered on our commitment to our school communities — and that rings true today,” Murphy said. “With this legislation, we are giving local school districts critical support during trying times, as difficult financial realities muddy the already complex process of adopting a balanced budget. I am pleased to provide relief to school districts facing reductions in aid and, as we look ahead, I anticipate working alongside Commissioner (Kevin) Dehmer to ensure our tax dollars are being used responsibly to uplift all of our students.”
“The combination of additional state aid and school district tax levy growth cap flexibility achieved by this legislation strikes a key balance: easing the transition to full funding amounts while further empowering school districts to sustain education and support programs beyond S2’s phase-in schedule,” acting Commissioner of Education Dehmer said. “For our part, the department is committed to working with districts on finalizing their budget plans for next school year; for their part, this legislation provides districts additional revenue sources to further help transition to sustainable spending plans that meet the needs of all students.”
The second bill, A4059, authorizes the Commissioner of Education to permit certain school districts experiencing a reduction in state aid to submit budgets no later than five days following the enactment of the FY2025 appropriations act.
“On behalf of the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association, I would like to thank Gov. Murphy and the many legislators who sponsored and supported S3081/A4161 and S3002/A4059 for recognizing that the impact of the final year of implementing the school funding formula could be completely devastating for some districts, choosing to take steps to support the needs of many schools and students. This allows districts time to plan their final budgets and will help many keep teachers in the classroom, maintain reasonable class sizes, and preserve valuable programming that would otherwise have been lost,” said Karen A. Bingert, executive director of the NJ Principals and Supervisors Association.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff