COLTS NECK • ENGLISHTOWN • FREEHOLD BOROUGH • FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP • MANALAPAN • MARLBORO
NEWS TRANSCRIPT
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 10, 2021
thenewstranscript.com
PHOTOS BY STEVEN BASSIN/STAFF
The basketball teams from Marlboro High School and the Ranney School met in postseason play on March 3 at the Ranney School in Tinton Falls. Above left, Marlboro’s Nick Malaucelli drives past a Ranney School defender. Above right, the Mustangs’ Jay Ratner prepares to shoot. Marlboro defeated the Panthers, 71-65, to advance to the championship game of the Shore Conference pod “A” tournament against Manasquan. See Sports, page 10.
Three of six area school districts face loss of state aid By MARK ROSMAN Managing Editor
G
ov. Phil Murphy has unveiled his Fiscal Year 2022 budget, which includes proposed funding for New Jersey’s public school districts during the 2021-22 academic year. In terms of state aid, some school districts have come out winners and will see an increase in their support from Trenton, while some school districts have come out losers and will see their state aid continue to decrease. The amount of state aid a school district receives helps to determine the amount of taxes a school board must raise from a municipality’s residential and commercial property owners to support the operation of
a school district in an academic year. For school districts that are scheduled to lose state aid in 2021-22, the impact of the reduction will become clear when school board members introduce their budgets for the upcoming academic year during the next few weeks and administrators explain how the loss of state aid will be accommodated in their budget. According to information provided by the New Jersey School Boards Association, six local school districts will see the following year-to-year changes in their state aid: • Freehold Regional High School District – A decrease in state aid of $6.68 million from $40.73 million in 2020-21 to $34.05 million in 2021-22;
Superintendent of Schools Charles Sampson, whose district is facing a loss in state revenue of almost $7 million said, “For the past two years, districts facing the loss of state aid due to (state legislation known as S-2) have consistently petitioned our legislators to re-examine this deeply flawed funding formula. “The result? Draconian cuts to many districts during a pandemic. We opened our doors for students this fall at a great cost after prepping our buildings for the new COVID era. “Instead of being recognized for our hard work and dedication in getting students back into the classroom, the district is having its (state) aid cut approximately $7 million,” he said.
“Freehold Regional was $1.5 million under adequacy (a measure of spending) in 2019-20. In 2020-21, we are $4.8 million under adequacy. To translate, this means we tax to the 2% cap and still spend approximately $5 million less than what state says we should spend. “Yet state leaders believe there is nothing wrong with the current funding formula? The continued slashing of state aid under S-2 is disheartening for our communities and our children. New Jersey needs to re-evaluate the outdated funding formula to ensure fair funding for all,” Sampson said. • Manalapan-Englishtown Regional
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