Barnegat, Stafford Schools See Federal Funding Amid Pandemic

BARNEGAT, NJ — The federal government has poured some $190 billion into the nation's schools since March 2020 to help offset the costs of coping with the coronavirus pandemic — more than four times what the U.S. Education Department spends on K-12 schools in a typical year.

About $4 billion of that total went to New Jersey schools, according to an analysis by the Associated Press.

Relying on data published or provided by states and the federal government, the AP also tallied how much money was granted to nearly every school district in the state and country, including Barnegat and Stafford schools.

The Barnegat Township School District received $8,099,005 from the federal government to help offset the costs of coping with the coronavirus pandemic, according to the AP. That comes out to about $2,307.41 per student in the district of about 3,510 students.

The Stafford Township School District received $3,730,422 from the federal government. That comes out to about $1,726.25 per student in the district of about 2,161 students.

The AP tracked more than $156 billion out of the $190 billion sent to states to distribute among schools since last year, including general pandemic relief that some states shared with their schools. Some districts will receive sums amounting to 50 percent or more of the cost to run their schools for a year.

The aid averages nearly $2,800 per student nationwide, but it varies widely by district and state, according to the AP's analysis.

The following school districts in New Jersey received the most funding, according to the AP's preliminary analysis:

1. Newark Public School District (41,629 pupils): $282.22 million
2. Camden City School District (7,167 pupils): $185.49 million
3. Lakewood Township School District (6,007 pupils): $172.98 million
4. Paterson Public School District (27,595 pupils): $169.62 million
5. Jersey City Public Schools (29,113 pupils): $162.78 million
6. Elizabeth Public Schools (29,021 pupils): $102.30 million
7. Passaic City School District (14,358 pupils): $90.42 million
8. Union City School District (13,754 pupils): $77.12 million
9. Trenton Public School District (15,694 pupils): $70.0 million
10. Atlantic City School District (6,921 pupils): $54.72 million

See the full list of schools compiled by the AP here.

Read more about how the funding impacted New Jersey across the board here.

Editor's note: This post was generated using data from the Associated Press. Rich Scinto, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.

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