Brick Schools Urge Families To Call State On $5.3M Aid Cut

BRICK, NJ — Faced with the potential loss of more staff positions, Brick Township school district officials are asking parents and the community to call and email state officials to urge them to pause the S2 state aid cuts, which are set to remove $5.3 million in aid from the district for 2021-2022.

The effort is part of a movement statewide where districts are pushing back against the S2 cuts, which come even as schools struggle with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

"The Brick Township Public School District has been confronted with a series of cuts to bridge the gap of this loss of aid," Superintendent Thomas Farrell and Board President Stephanie Wohlrab said in a letter to parents and staff, urging them to call.

"Over the past few years, the district has cut over 100 staff positions. Should this path continue, we are on track for continued losses of staff and ultimately programs for our students," the letter said.

The district has been among about 200 districts fighting the S2 cuts for more than three years. In Brick, the cuts also are accompanied by a required 2 percent increase in the property tax levy, as the school district is "under adequacy." That means it is spending less per student that the state Department of Education says is necessary to provide students with a thorough and efficient education.

The letter said the continuing cuts will have the following effects on Brick Schools:

• Increased class sizes across all levels, with class sizes above 30 students
• Loss of 150-plus various staff positions
• Reconfiguration of the district schools
• Elimination of many non-mandated programs

"It is time to reform a flawed and antiquated funding formula that does not take into account student learning needs and economic conditions in the 21st century, especially post-pandemic," officials said. "The timeline for S2 cuts then must be extended in order for districts to manage funding reductions without decimating educational programming and staffing or asking taxpayers to shoulder an exorbitant tax increase."

The district asked parents and the community to call "to ensure our voice is heard ... encourage them to rethink this misguided aid reduction alongside other Support Our Students (SOS) districts."

"Please know that the Brick Township Public School District remains concerned that our more recent gains will be marginalized with the impact of a revenue loss of this magnitude," Farrell and Wohlrab wrote.

School districts have the opportunity to apply for additional aid provided by the federal government in the various coronavirus relief packages. The aid Brick is eligible for would fill much of the cut this year.

"The additional aid for the pandemic is not taken for granted, but it is a band-aid, not a long-term, viable solution to fund New Jersey’s high achieving public education system," a letter by Support Our Students said. "The one-time injection of stimulus money provided to districts is not a substitute for the millions of dollars of state school funding being stripped away by S2, rather it is to provide for schools to safely emerge from COVID-19."

"If the timeline for funding cuts continues as planned under S2, there will be long-term consequences for hundreds of thousands of students in communities from Warren to Cape May counties, affecting their education today and their future in college and careers," the letter said.

Information on how to contact Murphy and state legislators is on the Brick Schools' website.

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