Cuts In State Aid For Cinnaminson Schools Under New Budget

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Cinnaminson schools are slated to have their state funding reduced next school year, according to figures the state education department released on Thursday.

The New Jersey Department of Education released the 2025-26 state funding figures, showing how $12.1 billion will get divided among the state's K-12 schools. There are 392 districts slated to receive increased funding, 175 seeing funding cuts and seven districts whose aid amount is the same as 2024-25.

The state allocated $21.1 million for the Cinnaminson Township School District this school year. It was a 9.1 percent bump from the prior year's total. But in the upcoming year, the district is set for a 3 percent reduction in state aid, bringing the figure to roughly $20.5 million.

In the current fiscal year, the Cinnaminson School District has a budget of about $66.2 million, according to district documents. Roughly $37.1 million came from property taxes, while state aid covered most of the remainder.

This budget season marks the first time that New Jersey has implemented its new funding formula for divvying up school aid, which is designed to eliminate funding gaps among school systems.

This year, the maximum year-to-year reduction for a district's state funding was 3 percent. The maximum increase was 6 percent.

For districts targeted by the past funding formula, known as S2, the last seven budgets have resulted in drastic cuts to funding that significantly exceeded the preliminary calculations they had made based on what they knew of the formula.

The drastic swings have led to supplemental legislation to try to assist districts faced with deep cuts, including last year's one-time permission to some districts to seek a 9.9 percent increase in their property tax levy — exceeding the 2 percent cap instituted in 2010 under then-Gov. Chris Christie.

It also has led to a larger outcry over changes in demands on school budgets that have altered the landscape for public schools that culminated in public hearings called by the state education department in January and earlier in February on school funding.

See every school district's state-aid figures here.

With reporting from Karen Wall/Patch