Boost In State Aid For Schools In Gloucester Twp., Black Horse Pike Districts

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — Schools in the Gloucester Township and Black Horse Pike districts are set to receive a boost in state funding for the next school year, according to figures the state education department released on Thursday.

The Black Horse Pike Regional School District's state aid will rise to nearly $44.9 million for the 2025-26 school year. The $2.5 million boost marks a 6 percent increase over this year's funding — the maximum increase allowed under the state's new formula for divvying school aid.

The Gloucester Township School District will receive $71.1 million — a 2.96 percent bump worth $2 million.

On Thursday, the New Jersey Department of Education released the 2025-26 state funding figures, showing how that $12.1 billion will support 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.

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