District Receives Additional State Aid, Announces Christie

Local school districts received good news Tuesday — more state aid is coming their way. 

The Education Allocation Plan, announced by Gov. Chris Christie, authorizes an additional $850 million in state aid to be shared among each district for the 2012 school year. 

South Orange- Maplewood’s allocation increased by $1,060,789. “At the moment, NJDOE has not yet released guidance or defined parameters for allocating these funds,” said Superintendent Brian Osborne. “We are hopeful that we will be allowed to utilize the aid to accelerate our progress toward our mission of preparing every student for success in higher learning in the 21^st century.”

The district’s total budget for 2011-12 is roughly $112 million. That includes state aid of approximately $750,000, which is in addition to the allocation announced this week.

Christie's bump in education aid includes his initial $250 million increase for all districts, as well as an additional $150 million for non-Abbott districts. The measure also adds $450 million toward the 31 Abbott districts. 

The boost, according to Christie, will mark the highest levels of state funding since he took office early last year.

"We are keeping faith with our commitment to New Jersey’s children and families, spending more money per pupil on New Jersey’s students than almost any other state in the country," said Christie in a release. "Now is the time to complement the dollars spent with real education reform to bring a focus on student learning, accountability and results."

According to the governor's office, this increase in education aid will provide much-needed property tax relief to state residents as the state increases its support for local schools.

The county and school district allocation lists can be viewed here.

County: ESSEX

District: SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD

K-12 2010-2011 Total Aid: $1,189,380

Governor's Budget 2011-2012

Total Aid: $2,250,169

Additional Aid 2011-2012 Approp. Act: $1,060,789

Equalized Aid: $0

Education Adequacy Aid: $0

Choice Aid: $0

Transportation Aid: $0

Special Education Categorical Aid: $3,310,958

Security Aid: $0

Adjustment Aid: $0

Revised 2011-2012 Total Aid: $3,310,958

One Year Aid Change: $2,121,578 

Transportation Aid: 0

• Special Education Aid: $3,892,676
• Security Aid: $107,672
• Adjustment Aid: 0
• Revised 2011-2012 Total Aid: $5,893,537
• One Year Aid Change: $2,423,936