South Brunswick Schools, Lawmaker Work To Help Districts Facing Aid Cut

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – The South Brunswick School District recently worked with a local lawmaker on a bill designed to increase the 2 percent tax levy for districts faced with state aid cuts.

During the last Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Scott Feder informed the community that Sen. Andrew Zwicker (NJ-16) will be presenting a bill soon that is designed to say that districts that had been cut from state funding would have the ability to go above the 2 percent cap on spending if they so choose.

“We worked with Sen. Zwicker on that exact bill and gave him our perspective and language to use. We have not seen the bill yet. But as soon as we do see the bill, that is something for the advocacy committee to also work with, and get involved with.” Feder said.

Meanwhile, the BOE’s advocacy committee met for the first time in the end of November.

The school district received around 70 applications from residents to join the committee. About 55 people were chosen to join.

During the first meeting, which was mostly educational, the motivated group of people threw out some good ideas, Feder said.

The aim of the advocacy committee is to urge Trenton to find solutions to funding needs in the district.

A full document is being prepared by Board president Lisa Rodgers. It will be shared with the committee and Board, as well as the district’s administration and leadership team.

Meetings of the advocacy committee will be videotaped and posted on the school district website for the whole community to see, Feder said.

“The work we have been doing, hopefully, will have some impact. If there’s no impact, we're in trouble. So, let's hope we get a lot of good impact,” Feder said.

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