Freehold Regional High School District Chief Slams State Aid Cuts

MANALAPAN, NJ — The Freehold Regional High School District superintendent has broadcast a YouTube video to the community highly critical of the 22.14 percent cut in state aid over last year for the district, based on the proposed state budget.

Superintendent Dr. Charles Sampson called the cuts "pernicious," and he said the district was "caught off guard," anticipating a $2.1 million reduction, but now is facing a $6.7 million reduction based on state formulas.

He said the state determination of what the district should be paying in taxes went up 10 percent, creating the increase in the anticipated aid shortfall.

His comments, he said, are intended to educate the public not only about the budget but also about the state "S2" law that since 2018 has been in place to restructure school spending.

He said S2 now leaves the regional district, serving students in six high schools in western Monmouth County, $20 million "under adequacy," Sampson said.

The Freehold Regional High School District serves approximately 10,400 students in six high schools from the municipalities of Howell and Farmingdale, Freehold, Freehold Township, Manalapan and Englishtown, Marlboro, and Colts Neck.

You can hear his address on video here.

"We can never close that adequacy gap," Samson said in the video, referring to tax formulas.

And that is despite the district having the lowest per pupil cost - $14,000 - in Monmouth County, and administrative costs that are 25 percent below the average in the county, too, he said.

"We feel very confident in our efficiencies," he said.

He said the district web page has an explanation of the S2 law and its impact.

Under the law, the district went from $50 million in state aid in 2015, to "just north of $20 million now," he said.

He said the district, as do all in the state, will be completing its budget in April. The state budget is finalized in June. The total aid for the coming year is $23,786,497, down the 22.14 percent from last year.

Sampson said to expect "a lot of public conversation about reductions and cuts and how we will close this massive budget shortfall."

On the state level, Gov. Murphy and Acting Education Commissioner Angelica Allen-McMillan last week unveiled the $20.5 billion budget for education.

According to the Governor's Office, the proposed budget will provide "historic levels of school aid, with an increase in $1 billion over the prior year for a total of $20.5 billion in school funding."

This amount includes pre-K funding, pension and benefits funding for school staff, and an increase in $832 million in total K-12 formula aid, the Governor's Office said in a news release.

District allocations of state aid are available on the DOE’s School Finance webpage.

But Republican legislative representatives have criticized the budget's funding for most districts in their area.

Assemblywomen Kim Eulner and Marilyn Piperno, R-District 11, said in a statement the school funding is "a slap in the face to suburban districts."

The budget is cutting nearly $21.5 million in state aid to 11 schools the lawmakers represent in Monmouth County, they said in a joint statement.

“Indefensible is how I would describe the excessive funding cuts to Monmouth County schools that are suffering from higher costs, teacher shortages and learning loss just like everyone else,” Eulner said.

Of the 22 schools in legislative District 11, half are being cut and one district’s funding is flat, they said. Overall, schools in the legislative district will receive 8.5 percent less funding – a net loss of $16.8 million – compared to last year, they said.

All of Monmouth County schools are facing a net funding loss of nearly $20 million with 84 percent of that coming from schools in the lawmakers’ district, they said.

“Even Red Bank Borough, which had been getting increases to finally provide a thorough education, is unexpectedly being cut by 6 percent,” added Piperno.

Since the 2020-21 school year, the state has determined its annual distribution of education aid through S2 — a controversial funding formula passed in 2018, Murphy's first year in office.

The governor has defended S2, saying the funding formula had to change to address inequities within the state. Fiscal Year 2024 would be the sixth of seven state budgets that S2 will impact, with the goal of fully funding education under the formula by 2025.