By: Rebecca Weltmann
The good news is that the 2007-08 state aid figures released on Feb. 26 from the state Department of Education are higher than last year’s.
The bad news is that local school administrators say the increases are not enough to fix the damage done by frozen state aid during the past few years.
Millstone’s school district will get approximately $4.7 million in total state aid this year, a 3 percent increase over last year’s total. For the past five years, Millstone has had a flat rate of increase of 3 percent. . Superintendent Mary Anne Donahue said that while she is grateful for any money the district can get, she had hoped that the district would receive a larger state aid increase.
"When we analyzed what we were getting, we noticed that we’re very similar to all the other districts like us in the county," Dr. Donahue said. "For us, this amounts to $141,000. We know the governor had said we would get an increase, and we were anticipating a small increase. That’s exactly what we got."
She added that the increase is based on last year’s budget and does not consider numbers from previous years. The increase for Millstone in 2007 is for special education. Aid for core curriculum remained at a flat rate of about $2.2 million.
Millstone hopes to present the budget to the county by March 12 and will present the final budget to the public at the school board meeting on March 26. Following that, the budget will go to the voters for the election on April 17. Dr. Donahue said voters could expect an increase in the budget and school taxes due mainly to the addition of a third school to the district.
"I think the only other thing we’re looking for now is to really wait to see what the funding formula will be for the future," she added. "We have the sixth lowest cost per pupil in state of NJ and we have always had responsible spending. We don’t spend a lot of money and the figures show that, so it’s difficult (to have to work with what we get)."
This year, Plumsted saw a 6 percent increase and received about $8.8 million in total with $6.3 million of that set for core curriculum aid. "We got more than 3 percent, so we’re happy that it’s more than that," Superintendent Jerry North said. "After five years of flat state aid, any additional money is an asset. It still doesn’t make up for the hole we’re in from the last five years, but I was glad that the governor found a way to give us additional money. I’m looking forward to them coming up with a formula that would make state aid equitable across the state."
The Plumsted school district will present its preliminary budget to the county on March 7. A public hearing will be held on March 28 to present the budget to the public.
Upper Freehold Regional Interim Superintendent Robert Smith said the amount from state aid for his district was no surprise. The total amount of state aid for 2006-07 was approximately $4.5 million, a 5.7 percent increase from last year’s aid.
"It’s a step in the right direction," Dr. Smith said. "After five years of essentially receiving no increase at all from the state, we’re glad we got something."
The core curriculum aid for the Upper Freehold Regional District is about $2.2 million. Aid for special education was $762,563. Dr. Smith said he was anticipating some aid, but that what they got was a little better than what he was expecting.
Upper Freehold Regional School District will hold a public hearing on its budget on March 28. Dr. Smith said they are anticipating a higher budget than last year’s due to the plans to build a new middle school in the district.
Washington Township received no aid for its core curriculum and received a 3 percent increase for special categories. This year, the district received a total of about $2.2 million, a figure that has been frozen since 2002. The total increase in state aid was 3 percent, but the increases were for special education aid and other special categories. Superintendent Jack Szabo said this is "unacceptable."
In response to what the board deems an unfair and "discriminatory" financial aid formula, the board is joining forces with the Township Council to issue a lawsuit against the state Department of Education and the state Education Commissioner. The complaint, said board attorney Matt Giacobbe, is that other school districts in the same District Factor Group, such as Millstone, receive over a $2 million in core curriculum aid while Washington received nothing.
"We are concerned about school aid in the district," said Dr. Szabo. "We are looking at a relatively modest budget, and that’s being kind. Our contention is that state aid hasn’t been uniformly applied for years and to think that a 3 percent increase corrects the problem is unfair to our district."
With the fastest growing population in the state, the Washington Township School District expects to take further steps to seek a clearer and better state aid formula.
"Washington Township taxpayers have been asked to deliver an education that meets state mandates without any state help," Dr. Szabo said.
Washington is expected to have its preliminary budget available to the county by March 13 and will hold a public hearing on the budget at its regular board meeting on March 28.
For a complete record of the state aid figures, go to the state Department of Education Web site at http://www.nj.gov/njded/stateaid/0708.

