State Aid Increases For Collingswood School District

The Collingswood Public School District will see a slight increase in state aid while the Oaklyn Public School District will see a decrease in aid from 2018, according to figures released by Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration this week.

The Collingswood Public School District will see an increase of $51,145, bringing the total state aid for the district to $10,535,989. That’s a 0.49 percent increase over 2018.

The Oaklyn Boro Public School District will see a decrease of $20,866, lowering the total state aid for the district to $2,518,473. That’s a 0.82 percent decrease from 2018.

Overall, state aid would increase 2.43 over the 2018-19 school year under a plan that requires approval from the state Legislature. That number would be smaller than the 3.5 percent increase Murphy originally proposed last year, but that original plan had no state aid cuts for any district.

Murphy was ultimately forced to revise his agenda and put forward a plan that cut aid to 171 districts in the 2018-19. Senate President Steve Sweeney got the upper hand in his push to fully fund a number of districts that had been promised more money for years.

State aid weighs heavily in many district's decisions on raising local property taxes. Many often say that aid cuts or flat spending from year to year gives them cause to raise what are already the highest property taxes.

Some districts saw double-digit increases, including Lakewood (63.66 percent), Atlantic City (39.23 percent) and Woodbridge (21.78 percent). The biggest losers happened to be in areas where Murphy may not be so popular, such Hunterdon and Monmouth counties.

Some of those districts were already protesting the numbers. Superintendent Charles Sampson of the Freehold Regional High School district, whose district is losing $3.78 million, a 7.52 decline, called the process "flawed."

"Formula deeply flawed, not transparent an artificially inflated," he tweeted. "Gutting one of most efficient models in New Jersey."

Read more here: These 190-Plus Districts May Face Tax Hike: NJ School Aid Figures