Job Cuts, 'Ridiculous' Class Sizes, Sports Nixed: NJ Schools Face Budget Woes

NEW JERSEY — How does the Garden State’s lowest-spending-per-pupil large school district slash more than $25 million from its budget next year?

By eliminating 368 staff positions and pushing class sizes up to 60 or more students, according to Toms River Regional School District Superintendent Michael Citta.

The school district of roughly 14,500 pupils already reached an agreement to sell 17 acres of land to Toms River Township to help fill a hole in the district's budget last year, though Citta warned the district would face a far worse problem in 2024-25.

"It has been a rough couple of weeks," Citta told the district's Board of Education during its budget committee meeting in April, adding that if the district "did it equitably and we took from special education," taking away 50 self-contained classrooms, the district would have to place an additional 480 students in out-of-district settings, which would cost the district $36 million, including nearly $5 million in transportation.

Cutting the special education classrooms is not permitted under the law, Citta told the board, so instead the remaining 50 positions would be cut from the elementary schools. The resulting class sizes: 235 students.

Toms River Regional is far from alone. Many New Jersey school districts are belt-tightening this upcoming year ahead of state funding cuts, with 60 districts to see decreases in the double-digit percentages, Gov. Phil Murphy said earlier this year.

During his annual budget address to legislators in February, Murphy noted the proposed plan includes the single largest investment into public education in state history. The budget would fully fund the state’s school funding formula for the first time, raising public school funding by $908 million to $11.7 billion.

That formula was part of the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, which aimed to address school funding inequities.

While many districts have received additional funding, more than 200 have seen aid cuts yearly since 2018, as a result of the revision to the SFRA known as S2 that was signed into law by Murphy (S2 got its start in 2017, when then-Gov. Chris Christie and then-Senate President Stephen Sweeney made a deal that swapped the increase in the gasoline tax Christie wanted for cuts in state aid to districts that had been receiving adjustment aid).

The 2024-25 fiscal year is supposed to be the last year of S2 and its cuts.

In his remarks earlier this year, Murphy noted he earmarked funding for expanded preschool access, free school meals and student-teacher stipend and recruitment efforts.

Amid the aid slashes, some school officials are considering creative measures to offset operational costs.

Citta said he has been asking the state Department of Education to allow Toms River Regional to apply for a loan — "an advance on our aid, I was told," he said — but to be eligible for a loan there are several criteria the district must meet, including having spent all its surplus and having exhausted its emergency aid.

Another possibility: a referendum to the district's taxpayers seeking approval to increase the tax levy by more than the2 percent cap to cover the shortfall.

There's a catch with that, however: Districts cannot ask permission to exceed the 2 percent cap to pay for items that are part of providing a thorough and efficient education. New Jersey's Constitution guarantees students a thorough-and-efficient education.

"Everything in our budget is T&E," Citta said during a Citizens Budget Advisory meeting in March. "There isn’t one thing in that budget our kids can’t not have."

Sports Program Cuts, Raised Taxes, More Layoffs Planned

To prevent layoffs and increased class sizes, Cherry Hill School District could raise taxes by $194.71 on the average assessed home worth $226,922, according to a preliminary budget for the next school year. That district is set to receive 18.97 percent less in state funding compared to the $36.3 million it received last year.

“Our students should not see the impact of these cuts,” Board Member Adam Greenbaum said at a recent meeting.

A similar measure is being considered in North Jersey's Wayne, where a 2.48 percent property tax increase will be on the ballot Thursday. Board officials said they did not have much "wiggle room" in drafting next year's budget, and mentioned that cuts to programs are possible, to make ends meet. For example, renovations to the next-generation science labs at both high schools would be put on pause while the district re-directs those funds to more pressing needs.

Layoffs won’t be staved off entirely at the East Brunswick School District, where 51 positions are slated to be eliminated as officials face a shortfall of $7.8 million. Like many other districts, East Brunswick has submitted a review of the application of the state funding formula through the Department of Education and is awaiting a response.

In Hillsborough, middle school sports are on the chopping block, in addition to three staff positions and unfilled roles.

"Unfortunately, we are once again sharing a budget where we have to focus on what is being cut instead of being able to highlight areas of improvement to our programs," said School Business Administrator Gerald Eckert at the Monday night Board meeting. "Hopefully in upcoming budgets, we can focus on areas of growth rather than cuts."

Pointing to the S2 formula, Board Vice President Cindy Nurse said, “unfortunately, we have a broken system within our state."

Since the S2 state school funding formula began the Hillsborough School District has lost a cumulative $7 million since the 2018-19 school year.

Even some of the 200 school districts poised to receive a double-digit increase in funding next year, like the South Orange-Maplewood Public School District, are still considering job cuts and raising taxes. In response, the district will be appealing to lawmakers in Trenton for even more funding.

Here are the top five school districts that will see the largest funding increases, including FY2025 K-12 state aid and percent increase from the 2024 fiscal year, per Murphy’s budget:

• Mannington Twp, Salem County, $517,067, 112.2 percent
• Maywood Boro, Bergen County, $4,066,732, 105.9 percent
• Colts Neck Township, Monmouth County, $3,633,598, 98 percent
• Stow Creek Township, Cumberland County, $809,415, 77.87 percent
• Weymouth Township, Atlantic County, $1,082,281, 66.15 percent

Here are the top five school districts that will see the largest funding decreases, per Murphy’s budget:

• Cape May Point, Cape May County, $759, -62.56 percent
• Bass River Twp, Burlington County, $245,782, -60.65 percent
• Runnemede Boro, Camden County, $3,045,315, -57.68 percent
• Woodland Twp, Burlington County, 268,360, -49.75 percent
• Wildwood City, Cape May County, $1,189,000, -37.84 percent

You can view 2024-25 preschool and K-12 state aid summaries by county and school district here.

Public hearings and committee meetings will continue before an anticipated balanced state budget is due on July 1.