NJ Advances School Consolidation Plan: Here's What This Means

NEW JERSEY — The Senate Education Committee unanimously approved legislation on Tuesday to help start the process of creating K-12 regional and countywide school districts in an effort to improve educational quality and efficiency.

The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sens. Vin Gopal and Declan O’Scanlon, would help create enhanced learning opportunities "that come from attending a K-12 or countywide district,” said Sweeney. Consolidation will be voluntary, he said.

“This will be the first major overhaul of New Jersey’s school regionalization statute in over 25 years,” said Sweeney. “It is designed to improve the quality of education by ensuring coordination of curriculum from K to 12, provide the enriched educational experience that smaller districts cannot offer, and generate long-term savings that can be used to hold down property taxes or reinvest in expanded educational programs.”

Regionalization is particularly important for small districts with declining enrollments that are having an increasingly hard time "providing a quality educational experience and making their budgets work," Sweeney said.

Sweeney said one-school districts with fewer than 500 students spend 17 percent more per pupil than the 60 percent of New Jersey districts with 1,000 or more students, "and those include the large urban districts and comprehensive K-12 districts that are supposed to spend more under the state formula. Regionalization makes sense,” he said.

The legislation, S-3488, would do the following:

• Establish criteria for state-funded regionalization studies
• Increase flexibility on regionalization cost
• Bars any regionalization that would have a segregative effect
• Protect tenure and seniority
• Provide significant financial incentives for districts losing state aid because of declining enrollment.

The new legislation provides for an expedited preliminary approval process to enable districts that are losing state aid to readjust their 2021-2022 school budgets to factor in the increased funding they would receive for participating in regionalization studies.

Many districts have been seeing an ongoing reduction in aid 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.

Read more: 2021 NJ School Aid: Who's Getting More; Who's Getting Less

The legislation establishes an eight-year phaseout of adjustment aid cuts – stretched out from the current four years – for districts participating in a regionalization study.

Salem County is currently exploring the possibility of creating New Jersey’s first countywide school district with a state-funded Local Efficiency Achievement Program (LEAP) grant, and both Pinelands Regional in Ocean and Burlington counties and Roosevelt in Monmouth County are using LEAP grants for K-12 regionalization studies.

O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, said many of New Jersey’s small districts are "inefficient and more costly for taxpayers, and all districts should explore the benefits available to their students and taxpayers alike.”

Gopal said the legislation removes significant barriers to regionalization, including a statutory provision to recalculate state aid that would have made it more costly for some districts to regionalize than to remain separate.

"Importantly, it is a voluntary process that provides local districts with greater flexibility to design a regionalization phase-in that makes sense for all," said Gopal, D-Monmouth.

It's not clear where Gov. Phil Murphy stands on this regionalization issue, and he has declined to comment on pending legislation.

But two years ago, the governor did set aside $10 million for New Jersey communities to help promote shared services. About $2 million of that was earmarked to study K-12 consolidation, something that Sweeney has championed as part of his "Path to Progress" agenda.

Sweeney has pushed 27 bills that he eventually hopes to put on the legislative agenda, lawmakers say. Lawmakers, however, emphasized that Sweeney is not currently pushing for consolidation of more than 300 school districts – as he did a few years ago.

Back then, Sweeney presented his "Path to Progress" package that was drawn up by himself and 26 analysts and so-called experts, and he told a panel at the Atlantic City Convention Center in 2018 that he wants action on the plan because "New Jersey faces a dangerous reality."

"The goal is to eliminate the administration, put a principal in the school, get rid of the school district, leave a principal, let the regional high school become a K-12 district," Sweeney said. "You go from 600 districts to 320."

Those recommendations included in the “Path to Progress” include:

• Merge all K-4, K-5, K-6, K-8, and K-9 school districts into K-12 regional districts to improve the quality of education and promote efficiency.
• Install high-occupancy toll lanes (or HOT lane) on I-80, I-295, I-287, among others.
• Allow the establishment of two countywide school district pilot programs.
• Explore the viability of transferring major assets such as the New Jersey Turnpike system to the state pension system to lower the unfunded liability and generate new revenue streams for the pension system.
• Create a Property Tax Assessment Study Commission to study the state’s tax assessment practices and make recommendations for countywide or regional tax assessment to ensure consistency and efficiency.

The effort started in early 2018. Then, the state Legislature created an Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup as a way to identify ways to address soaring pension and health benefits costs, hold down property taxes, make state and local government and school districts more efficient, assess the equity and efficiency of our state and local tax structure, leverage the value of state assets, and mitigate the negative impact of the federal tax law that targeted high cost states, Sweeney said.

Sweeney said he has long fought for shared services as an effective means of making government more efficient and providing taxpayer savings.

“K-12 regionalization, countywide school district pilots and shared services programs are a cornerstone of our Path to Progress plan to promote efficiency and lower property taxes,” Sweeney has said.

Here is a list of K-4, K-5, K-6, K-8, and K-9 school districts:

• Absecon City, Atlantic
• Brigantine City, Atlantic
• Egg Harbor City, Atlantic
• Estell Manor City, Atlantic
• Folsom Boro, Atlantic
• Galloway Twp, Atlantic
• Hamilton Twp, Atlantic
• Linwood City, Atlantic
• Margate City, Atlantic
• Mullica Twp, Atlantic
• Northfield City, Atlantic
• Port Republic City, Atlantic
• Somers Point City, Atlantic
• Ventnor City, Atlantic
• Weymouth Twp, Atlantic
• Allendale Boro, Bergen
• Alpine Boro, Bergen
• Carlstadt Boro, Bergen
• Closter Boro, Bergen
• Demarest Boro, Bergen
• East Rutherford Boro, Bergen
• Edgewater Boro, Bergen
• Englewood Cliffs Boro, Bergen
• Fairview Boro, Bergen
• Franklin Lakes Boro, Bergen
• Harrington Park Boro, Bergen
• Haworth Boro, Bergen
• Hillsdale Boro, Bergen
• Ho Ho Kus Boro, Bergen
• Little Ferry Boro, Bergen
• Maywood Boro, Bergen
• Montvale Boro, Bergen
• Moonachie Boro, Bergen
• Northvale Boro, Bergen
• Norwood Boro, Bergen
• Oakland Boro, Bergen
• Old Tappan Boro, Bergen
• Oradell Boro, Bergen
• River Edge Boro, Bergen
• River Vale Twp, Bergen
• Rochelle Park Twp, Bergen
• Saddle River Boro, Bergen
• South Hackensack Twp, Bergen
• Upper Saddle River Boro, Bergen
• Woodcliff Lake Boro, Bergen
• Wyckoff Twp, Bergen
• Bass River Twp, Burlington
• Beverly City, Burlington
• Chesterfield Twp, Burlington
• Delanco Twp, Burlington
• Eastampton Twp, Burlington
• Edgewater Park Twp, Burlington
• Evesham Twp, Burlington
• Hainesport Twp, Burlington
• Lumberton Twp, Burlington
• Mansfield Twp, Burlington
• Medford Lakes Boro, Burlington
• Medford Twp, Burlington
• Mount Holly Twp, Burlington
• Mount Laurel Twp, Burlington
• New Hanover Twp, Burlington
• North Hanover Twp, Burlington
• Riverton, Burlington
• Shamong Twp, Burlington
• Southampton Twp, Burlington
• Springfield Twp, Burlington
• Tabernacle Twp, Burlington
• Westampton, Burlington
• Woodland Twp, Burlington
• Barrington Boro, Camden
• Bellmawr Boro, Camden
• Berlin Boro, Camden
• Berlin Twp, Camden
• Brooklawn Boro, Camden
• Clementon Boro, Camden
• Gibbsboro Boro, Camden
• Gloucester Twp, Camden
• Laurel Springs Boro, Camden
• Lawnside Boro, Camden
• Magnolia Boro, Camden
• Merchantville Boro, Camden
• Mount Ephraim Boro, Camden
• Runnemede Boro, Camden
• Somerdale Boro, Camden
• Stratford Boro, Camden
• Oaklyn, Camden
• Voorhees Twp, Camden
• Waterford Twp, Camden
• Woodlynne Boro, Camden
• Avalon Boro, Cape May
• Cape May City, Cape May
• Dennis Twp, Cape May
• Lower Twp, Cape May
• North Wildwood City, Cape May
• Stone Harbor Boro, Cape May
• Upper Twp, Cape May
• West Cape May Boro, Cape May
• Wildwood Crest Boro, Cape May
• Woodbine Boro, Cape May
• Commercial Twp, Cumberland
• Deerfield Twp, Cumberland
• Downe Twp, Cumberland
• Fairfield Twp, Cumberland
• Greenwich Twp, Cumberland
• Hopewell Twp, Cumberland
• Lawrence Twp, Cumberland
• Maurice River Twp, Cumberland
• Stow Creek Twp, Cumberland
• Upper Deerfield Twp, Cumberland
• Essex Fells Boro, Essex
• Fairfield Twp, Essex
• North Caldwell Boro, Essex
• Roseland Boro, Essex
• East Greenwich Twp, Gloucester
• Elk Twp, Gloucester
• Franklin Twp, Gloucester
• Greenwich Twp, Gloucester
• Harrison Twp, Gloucester
• Logan Twp, Gloucester
• Mantua Twp, Gloucester
• National Park Boro, Gloucester
• South Harrison Twp, Gloucester
• Swedesboro-Woolwich, Gloucester
• Wenonah Boro, Gloucester
• Westville Boro, Gloucester
• Woodbury Heights Boro, Gloucester
• East Newark Boro, Hudson
• Guttenberg Town, Hudson
• Alexandria Twp, Hunterdon
• Bethlehem Twp, Hunterdon
• Bloomsbury Boro, Hunterdon
• Califon Boro, Hunterdon
• Clinton Twp, Hunterdon
• Clinton-Glen Gardner, Hunterdon
• Delaware Twp, Hunterdon
• East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon
• Flemington-Raritan Reg, Hunterdon
• Franklin Twp, Hunterdon
• Frenchtown Boro, Hunterdon
• Hampton Boro, Hunterdon
• High Bridge Boro, Hunterdon
• Holland Twp, Hunterdon
• Kingwood Twp, Hunterdon
• Lebanon Boro, Hunterdon
• Lebanon Twp, Hunterdon
• Milford Boro, Hunterdon
• Readington Twp, Hunterdon
• Tewksbury Twp, Hunterdon
• Union Twp, Hunterdon
• Cranbury Twp, Middlesex
• Jamesburg Boro, Middlesex
• Milltown Boro, Middlesex
• Atlantic Highlands Boro, Monmouth
• Avon Boro, Monmouth
• Belmar Boro, Monmouth
• Bradley Beach Boro, Monmouth
• Brielle Boro, Monmouth
• Colts Neck Twp, Monmouth
• Deal Boro, Monmouth
• Eatontown Boro, Monmouth
• Fair Haven Boro, Monmouth
• Farmingdale Boro, Monmouth
• Freehold Boro, Monmouth
• Freehold Twp, Monmouth
• Highlands Boro, Monmouth
• Howell Twp, Monmouth
• Little Silver Boro, Monmouth
• Manalapan-Englishtown Reg, Monmouth
• Marlboro Twp, Monmouth
• Millstone Twp, Monmouth
• Monmouth Beach Boro, Monmouth
• Neptune City, Monmouth
• Oceanport Boro, Monmouth
• Red Bank Boro, Monmouth
• Roosevelt Boro, Monmouth
• Rumson Boro, Monmouth
• Sea Girt Boro, Monmouth
• Shrewsbury Boro, Monmouth
• Spring Lake Boro, Monmouth
• Spring Lake Heights Boro, Monmouth
• Tinton Falls, Monmouth
• Union Beach, Monmouth
• West Long Branch Boro, Monmouth
• Boonton Twp, Morris
• Chester Twp, Morris
• Denville Twp, Morris
• East Hanover Twp, Morris
• Florham Park Boro, Morris
• Hanover Twp, Morris
• Harding Township, Morris
• Lincoln Park Boro, Morris
• Long Hill Twp, Morris
• Mendham Boro, Morris
• Mendham Twp, Morris
• Mine Hill Twp, Morris
• Morris Plains Boro, Morris
• Mount Arlington Boro, Morris
• Netcong Boro, Morris
• Riverdale Boro, Morris
• Rockaway Boro, Morris
• Rockaway Twp, Morris
• Washington Twp, Morris
• Wharton Boro, Morris
• Bay Head Boro, Ocean
• Beach Haven Boro, Ocean
• Berkeley Twp, Ocean
• Eagleswood Twp, Ocean
• Island Heights Boro, Ocean
• Lakehurst Boro, Ocean
• Lavallette Boro, Ocean
• Little Egg Harbor Twp, Ocean
• Long Beach Island, Ocean
• Ocean Gate Boro, Ocean
• Ocean Twp, Ocean
• Seaside Heights Boro, Ocean
• Stafford Twp, Ocean
• Tuckerton Boro, Ocean
• Bloomingdale Boro, Passaic
• Haledon Boro, Passaic
• Little Falls Twp, Passaic
• North Haledon Boro, Passaic
• Prospect Park Boro, Passaic
• Ringwood Boro, Passaic
• Totowa Boro, Passaic
• Wanaque Boro, Passaic
• Woodland Park, Passaic
• Alloway Twp, Salem
• Elsinboro Twp, Salem
• Lower Alloways Creek, Salem
• Mannington Twp, Salem
• Oldmans Twp, Salem
• Quinton Twp, Salem
• Upper Pittsgrove Twp, Salem
• Bedminster Twp, Somerset
• Branchburg Twp, Somerset
• Green Brook Twp, Somerset
• South Bound Brook, Somerset
• Warren Twp, Somerset
• Watchung Boro, Somerset
• Andover Reg, Sussex
• Byram Twp, Sussex
• Frankford Twp, Sussex
• Franklin Boro, Sussex
• Fredon Twp, Sussex
• Green Twp, Sussex
• Hamburg Boro, Sussex
• Hampton Twp, Sussex
• Hardyston Twp, Sussex
• Lafayette Twp, Sussex
• Montague Twp, Sussex
• Ogdensburg Boro, Sussex
• Sandyston-Walpack Twp, Sussex
• Stanhope Boro, Sussex
• Stillwater Twp, Sussex
• Sussex-Wantage Regional, Sussex
• Garwood Boro, Union
• Mountainside Boro, Union
• Winfield Twp, Union
• Allamuchy Twp, Warren
• Alpha Boro, Warren
• Blairstown Twp, Warren
• Franklin Twp, Warren
• Frelinghuysen Twp, Warren
• Great Meadows Regional, Warren
• Greenwich Twp, Warren
• Harmony Twp, Warren
• Hope Twp, Warren
• Knowlton Twp, Warren
• Lopatcong Twp, Warren
• Mansfield Twp, Warren
• Oxford Twp, Warren
• Pohatcong Twp, Warren
• Washington Boro, Warren
• Washington Twp, Warren
• White Twp, Warren