Toms River Schools Urge Families To Call State On $8.1M Aid Cut

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional school community is taking time on Wednesday to urge Gov. Phil Murphy and state legislators to pause the S2 state aid cuts, which are set to remove $8.1 million in aid from the district for 2021-2022, even as the district is struggling with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Parents, staff members and community members in districts across the state have been urged to call and email state officials over the aid reductions, which are resulting in staffing cuts.

"New Jersey’s current school funding plan, reflected in Senate Bill 2 (S2) is flawed and unfair, with dire and long-term consequences for half a million children in public school districts of every size and socioeconomic makeup, including rural, urban, suburban communities," Toms River school district officials said in the letter urging parents and staff to get involved. "S2’s flawed and arbitrary formula does not achieve balance and equity among our schools and children. It has established a false perception of haves and have not."

Read more: Toms River Schools Facing $8.1M State Aid Cut For 2021-22

The district has been among about 200 districts fighting the S2 cuts. In Toms River, 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.

William Doering, business administrator for the Toms River Regional Schools, said the $8.1 million in cuts will result in staffing reductions again for the 2021-22 school year. Doering said some of the reductions likely will be absorbed by retirements and resignations, but not all.

The Toms River Regional Schools are asking Murphy, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin to:

• Pause funding cuts in the current budget cycle and allocate new education funding to districts that have been historically underfunded
• Extend the S2 timeline from the current 7 years
• Review and update the 13-year-old antiquated funding formula.
• Work with the legislature to enact legislation that will enable districts being negatively impacted by S2 who are under adequacy to exceed the 2 percent tax levy.

"If a proper solution is not found, district programs will be slashed or potentially dismantled," the letter to Toms River parents and staff said.

The anticipated effects of the cuts on Toms River Regional Schools are:

• A loss of $8.1 million for 2021-2022
• Funding loss of nearly $200k from Chapter 44 which increases net insurance costs
• Moving further below the state funding bar, as TRRS is already operating at $38 million under adequacy
• An actualized loss of more than $126 million in funding throughout the 7-year schedule provided by the DOE, which is $43 million more than the originally-scheduled loss of $83 million.

"The voices of Toms River Regional Schools families need to be heard at the state level," the letter said.

School districts have the opportunity to apply for additional aid provided by the federal government in the various coronavirus relief packages. The aid Toms River 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, a coalition of districts across the state affected by S2, 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 Toms River Schools' website.

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