East Brunswick Schools Reschedules Tentative Budget Adoption Date

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — The East Brunswick Board of Education had scheduled a meeting for March 19 to adopt the tentative 2025-26 school budget. But with the state moving their budget adoption date to March 19, the district said it will have to reschedule to an earlier date.

During the March 3 meeting, BOE members discussed the impact of the state budget on their finances.

A 3 percent reduction in state aid is on the cards for the school district.

According to NJ Department of Education’s 2025-26 state funding figures, the school district is expected to get $37,350,708 from the state, which is $1,155,177 less than what they received during the last year.

With the district not receiving any stabilization aid for the upcoming year, the total reduction in state aid is about 4.47 percent, according to Assistant Superintendent Bernardo Guiliana.

He told the BOE and community that East Brunswick is among other high performing school districts in the state that will see a 3 percent loss in funds.

“The school districts that benefited from state aid increases were those that were not within the high performing group,” Guiliana said.

But while the school district lost on state funding, Charter schools' state aid increased, necessitating the district to budget an additional $668,000.

Other impacts on the budget include salaries, which are rising by 4.06 percent; health benefits by 7 percent, and out-of-district tuition by over $1 million, according to Guiliana.

Electricity costs are projected to rise by $400,000, and custodial services by $180,000. The board's tax levies are maximized, with a 2.72 percent increase in revenue.

The total appropriations are $205.4 million, which is a $7.2 million increase over the current fiscal year. The district is facing a shortfall of $7.7 million.

Offsets total just under $8.4 million, with some details to be discussed in a closed session. The board is also analyzing changes in state aid calculations and their impact on future budgets.

A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for April 29 with the final adoption on May 8.

The budget that will be adopted later this month will be tentative – meaning, there will be opportunities to make changes until final adoption.

(Patch will discuss budget figures in detail after the next meeting.)

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