New funding formula desperately needed
Gov. Phil Murphy touted two bills he signed last week returning some of the state aid to districts that have been facing serious aid declines. While he makes the legislation sound rosy, the impact is anything but for districts including Upper Township, Somers Point and Mainland Regional High School.
As we’ve been reporting, the budgets for the next school year in all three districts are bleak because of the funding that has been drained away since the recalculations under the School Funding Reform Act of 2018.
To make up for the loss of funding just this year, Mainland Regional’s budget eliminated 17 staff positions. In Somers Point, it was 13 staff positions and $250,000 from maintenance reserve. And in Upper Township, the budget cut nine teaching staff positions, its security officers, courtesy busing, the kindergarten aide positions and after-school clubs and sports.
While it’s true 45 percent of the aid cut will be returned to the districts, that will amount only to $228,390 in Upper Township, $510,957 in Somers Point and $635,722 at Mainland Regional.
Interim Somers Point Superintendent Chris Kobik said they hope to bring back three of the cut positions, but he noted back in April, when discussion of more state aid was raised, that the way the legislation was written, there could be a bigger fiscal cliff in the 2025-26 school year.
Mainland Chief School Administrator Mark Marrone had a similar concern and in Upper Township, the less than quarter-million return doesn’t make up for a $4 million deficit because of the loss of aid and a huge tuition adjustment from Ocean City High School.
Upper Township Superintendent Allison Pessolano called it “just a drop in the bucket” against the $6 million the district has lost over the years because of the funding reform act.
When Murphy touts the new legislation by saying his administration has “never wavered on our commitment to our school communities,” he shouldn’t be expecting a lot of cheering from these South Jersey districts that have felt the pain of funding reform.
There is a possibility for more school funding that is part of the legislation, but that would come only by raising taxes in the respective communities. Somers Point could get a double whammy from its own district and Mainland Regional, which encompasses Somers Point, Linwood and Northfield.
All three districts already surpassed the 2 percent levy cap allowed by using banked cap. The legislation allows a one-time increase in the tax levy cap — the difference in the state aid figures in 2020-21 and 2024-25 up to a maximum of 9.9 percent of the previous year’s tax levy — but all three districts would have to consider what their taxpayers would be willing to bear. And be able to bear.
The districts would have to consider the cumulative effect of a large increase this year down the road.
With the prospects for the 2025-26 fiscal year unclear, trying to rescue too much or raise taxes too much may only end up creating those bigger headaches in the future.
The changes enacted by the Legislature and governor for the 2024-25 school year are positive, but they don’t prove an unwavering commitment to school communities for the longer term. For that, there must be a different school funding formula.
