Toms River School Board OKs Tentative 2020-21 Budget

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Staffing cuts are part of the tentative $247 million budget for the 2021-22 school year that the Toms River Regional Board of Education approved Wednesday night for submission to Ocean County executive superintendent.

The tentative budget is just a starting point for the county to begin its review, Business Administrator William Doering said during the meeting, which was the first held with in-person attendance for the public since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The submission of the tentative budget is a required step in the process of approving a school budget each year.

Doering said the tentative budget, with a property tax levy of $175,724,465, reflects the $8.1 million cut in state aid under S2, and the required 2 percent increase in the levy.

Doering said the district is trying through every avenue possible to get the $8.1 million restored.

However, that increase in the tax levy translates to much smaller increases in Toms River and Beachwood, of six-tenths of a percent, while South Toms River will see an increase of 1.5 percent and Pine Beach will have a 2.7 percent increase. The lower tax increases in Toms River and Beachwood are the result of an increase in ratables, Doering said, and a decrease in the district's debt service tax levy due to improved interest earnings.

The tentative budget also reflects a multimillion-dollar decrease in costs for benefits because of a reduction in health insurance claims to the district, Doering said.

The district hopes that most of the staff cuts will be absorbed through attrition, though he said that would be difficult to achieve. No co-curricular programs are being cut, he said.

The budget will be presented in detail at the citizens budget advisory meeting, which is set for 6 p.m. on March 31 in the cafeteria at Toms River High School South. The cafeteria is accessible from Door 12 at the school parking lot off Hooper Avenue.

The final public hearing and school board vote on the budget is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on April 28, to meet the early May deadline for final budget submission to the state Department of Education.

NOTE: This has been updated to include and correct the overall total budget and specifics on tax increases for South Toms River and Pine Beach.

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