SOMA Schools May Have To ‘Cut To The Bone’ Without More State Aid

SOUTH ORANGE-MAPLEWOOD, NJ — An 11 percent increase in state aid won’t be enough to keep the South Orange-Maplewood Public School District from having to “cut to the bone” this year as it struggles with budget woes, administrators say.

Dozens of jobs are on the chopping block under the district’s tentative 2024-2025 budget. There is a $2.7 million deficit that will require the district to cut between 30 and 40 positions, school officials said. See Related: Up To 40 Jobs May Be Cut In South Orange-Maplewood Schools

If it crosses the finish line as written, the spending plan would result in an overall tax levy increase of 1.88 percent. A public hearing and final vote on the budget is scheduled to be held on Thursday, April 25.

On Wednesday, acting superintendent Kevin Gilbert testified before the New Jersey State Assembly’s Budget Committee, asking for an increase in state aid to help the district cope with this year’s financial crunch.

The South Orange-Maplewood district will get $10,319,520 in K-12 aid from the state in fiscal year 2025. That’s up $1,025,178 from the previous year. The aid is earmarked as follows: special education ($7,865,043), transportation ($1,635,743) and security ($818,734). There is no equalization aid for 2025.

But according to district administrators, it’s not nearly enough.

“We have combed through every one of our departments, including our central office, to try to close the deficit and keep people in their jobs,” Gilbert said.

“But I must admit that, at this point, we are well beyond trimming fat from our budget,” the superintendent added. “We are cutting into bone.”

Gilbert requested an additional $4.2 million to close the district’s looming $2.7 million deficit. But this shortfall isn’t the only financial problem that administrators must solve, he added.

Special education cost increases include a $1.6 million hike for paraprofessionals, and related services have increased by nearly half a million dollars. Meanwhile, out-of-district transportation costs have climbed to $500,000 a month, the superintendent said.

According to Gilbert, the district had already cut spending in many areas to drive down the deficit from its original project of more than $10 million to $2.7 million, including $700,000 that was eliminated from the facilities budget.

“Increasing our state aid allocation will help us keep positions filled for the benefit of our students and families and assist in the maintenance of the aging infrastructure of our buildings,” Gilbert said.

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