Clark, Garwood Schools To Get More State Aid For 2021-22

CLARK, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed $44.8 billion budget contains increases in state aid to many schools. Clark and Garwood school districts are both looking at an increase for the 2021-22 school year.

Clark will see a 23.32 percent or $1,857,539 increase in aid. Garwood will see a 7.84 percent or $575,125 increase.

Gov. Phil Murphy's administration released a proposed $18.1 billion pre-K-through-12 state school aid funding plan on Thursday for the 2021-22 school year. Nearly 200 school districts would have a decrease under his school funding plan, while more than 300 would gain.

Many districts are facing cuts as part of the ongoing reduction in aid to the district under S2, the law that enforced cuts in so-called adjustment aid to districts that have been deemed to not be paying their local fair share of property taxes.

Clark Superintendent of Schools Edward Grande is happy for the increase in aid but says the district remains below-funded.

"While the percent of increase may sound large, these increases are being applied over consecutive years to bring a below-funded district (in terms of State aid received) like ours to a more equitable level. Even with these increases, we are still considered by the State to be below-funded. With that being said, our proposed increase will once again assist us with being able to offer high-quality programs for our students," said Grande.

On the whole, statewide aid would increase 6.6 percent over the 2020-21 school year under a plan that requires approval from the state Legislature. That number would be larger than the 3.8 percent increase Murphy proposed last year.

The state aid was part of Murphy's 2021-22 budget proposal, which was released Tuesday. Read more: No New Tax Increases, Fees For NJ Amid COVID, Gov. Murphy Says

Statewide, the proposal calls for $578 million in additional K-12 school aid and nearly $50 million in additional preschool funding. School districts will be able to use the state funding in conjunction with federal aid to address COVID-19-related learning loss, stand up mental health programs, train educators, and remediate buildings, among other uses, according to the administration.

The 2021-22 budget proposal plans to continue the seven-year phase-in to fully fund New Jersey's school funding formula. By adding $578 million in K-12 formula aid, the Murphy administration proposes to make the full scheduled phase-in for the upcoming school year and make up for the pause in the phase-in from last year's budget.

The proposal also includes $50 million in stabilization aid to help districts adjust to the phase-in of the school funding formula and an additional $25 million for Extraordinary Special Education aid.

"After years of chronic underfunding of our classrooms, we're getting back where we need to be," Murphy said. "This is good for our students, this is good for our educators, this is good for our district and school leaders, and this is good for our educational communities."

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