State Aid to Lawrence Township Schools Could Double

Lawrence Township schools could see an additional $672,000 in state aid for the 2011-2012 school year under a plan announced by Gov. Chris Christie this afternoon (Tuesday, July 12).

At the moment, it’s unclear how Lawrence schools will use the additional money.

In April, voters approved a , of which $57,383,635 would be raised through taxes, necessitating a 3-cent increase to the township’s school tax rate.

School officials said the increase was necessary to maintain current staffing levels and keep amenities like smaller class sizes, courtesy busing, full-day kindergarten and extracurricular programs in the wake of the decline of $122 million in ratables that Lawrence Township has experienced over the course of the last two years.

Christie's plan for $850 million in new school aid for fiscal year 2011-2012 includes the governor’s initial $250 million increase for all districts, an additional $450 million for the Abbott districts and an additional $150 million for non-Abbott districts.

 “This year, New Jersey increased state aid to school districts by $850 million over last year, restoring every dollar of the cuts we were forced to make last year and increasing aid by an additional $30 million,” Christie said in a prepared statement.

Lawrence Township schools received $1,576,386 in state aid in 2010-2011.

Until today, Lawrence was slated to receive $2,249,032 for 2011-2012. Now Lawrence could receive a total of $2,921,678, under Christie’s proposal.