TOMS RIVER – The Toms River Regional School District Board of Education has voted unanimously to join litigation with other school districts that have experienced and will continue to experience a reduction in state aid.
The suit is directed toward state Commissioner of Education Lamont Repollet. The board will retain the services of the Weiner Law Group at an initial cost of $5,000, according to a resolution. The board would have to vote to spend additional funds if asked to do so by the law firm.
During a board meeting on Oct. 17, Superintendent of Schools David Healy said the school district will face a reduction in its state aid of more than $70 million over a seven-year span.
The superintendent reiterated what he wrote in a letter to residents in August. At that time, Healy wrote, “With the recently signed legislation (S-2), our district is required to raise taxes every year while we cumulatively lose over $70 million in school aid over the next seven years. This means dramatic budget cuts will have to be made each and every year over that seven-year term.”
Toms River will join the Brick Township Public Schools Board of Education, which has also voted to sue the state over a reduction in school aid. District administrators said the Jackson School District is another possible participant in the legal action. In Monmouth County, the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District Board of Education has voted to join the litigation.
Board members were asked by a resident what is at stake with the looming reduction in state aid.
“Everything is on the table,” board President Russell Corby said.
District administrators said potential cuts in the school district’s budget could include staff members, courtesy busing and sub-varsity sports.
The next board meeting will be held on Nov. 20.