Include nine teaching positions, after-school clubs and sports, courtesy busing
PETERSBURG — The continued loss of state aid along with a hefty tuition adjustment have forced the Upper Township Board of Education to make deeps cuts across the board.
According to Superintendent Allison Pessolano, the district cut nine teaching staff positions and its security officers, as well as eliminated all of its kindergarten aide positions, after-school clubs and sports and courtesy busing.
But there is good news, and more bad news, associated with this year’s funding.
A new bill that could provide some relief to school districts passed through the state Senate on Monday. Approved by both houses of the state Legislature, the bill provides $44.7 million in relief to schools facing declines in state aid for the 2024-25 school year.
But under the bill, school districts that have had aid cut may exceed the 2 percent cap on their annual tax levy increases for the 2024-25 school year. The bill allows these schools to raise local taxes by the amount of state aid that was cut over the past four years, but by no more than 9.9 percent of the local tax levy.
Since 2016-17, under the Student Funding Reform Act of 2018, the district has lost $5,986,469 in state aid, down from $10,131,084 to $4,144,615.
The bill also provides aid grants to recover as much as 45 percent of the value of the district’s annual state aid reduction.
The measure now heads to Gov. Phil Murphy to be signed into law.
Lawmakers also passed a bill that extends the deadline for schools to submit their 2024-25 school budgets.
The Upper Township School District’s budget for 2024-25 increased the tax rate 3.1 cents per $100 of assessed value and the bill on an average assessed home ($288,834) by about $90.
Featuring an operating budget of $36,620,854, the spending plan increases the tax levy 2.59 percent — $551,004 to $28,101,183 under the 2 percent cap plus a $162,094 health care cap adjustment for a total of $28,263,277.
The district lost another $559,718 in state aid under the final year of the Student Funding Reform Act of 2018.
Changes from the previous year include a $1,680,000 increase in tuition, an increase of $219,220 in extraordinary services, a $349,661 increase in transportation costs, a $710,869 increase in benefits costs and elimination of $937,275 in stabilization aid.
“All of those put us in a pretty significant hole. We had to find about $4 million when we started the budget process,” she said.
To fund the budget, the district will utilize some of its capital reserve, maintenance reserve and tuition reserve funds.
During a presentation to the public, Pessolano said the $1.6 million tuition adjustment is unprecedented, noting is always has been about $500,000 or less.
“This is unchartered waters for all of us, but we definitely are having dialogue and are working on a solution,” the first-year superintendent said.
Pessolano said once the new funding is formalized, the district would have some difficult decisions to make.
“We are hopeful that we can add some things back in,” she said.
The elimination of courtesy busing means anyone living within 2 miles of a school will not be transported. During the budget hearing, district officials discussed providing busing at a cost of $600 to $800 per student.
Pessolano said the state funding formula leaves district administrators guessing at what their aid will be into late February, giving them little time to create and adopt a budget that may include significantly less aid than the previous year.
“Part of the problem is, we don’t know what to anticipate,” she said. “It is extremely difficult to plan for the future. We wait on pins and needles for state aid numbers to come out, then we have a short window to make plans and pass a budget.”
Pessolano was optimistic that a long-term solution can be found, noting many of the legislators who spoke during the hearing Monday said the bill would provide funds but the same problem will arise next year.
She said if and when new aid figures are presented, the district would work through a few scenarios regarding spending the grants and further raising the tax levy.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff