Multiple school districts in Gloucester County feel the schools are not seeing adequate aid from the School Funding Reform Act
Ignited at the realization both school districts in Harrison Township are the only districts in Gloucester County to receive a zero percent increase in state aid this year, the township is taking action.
In what may be seen as a sign of unity, the township is now a member of the Fair Funding Action Committee (FFAC). This decision was made by the township committee on April 2 after Mayor Lou Manzo described the intention of the FFAC.
Founded in 2012 and stemming from districts such as Kingsway Regional growing frustrated with a lack of state aid equivalent to a growing student population, the FFAC has grown into a collection of school administrators, elected officials, board of education members and volunteers vying to pressure politicians in Trenton to allocate school funding appropriately.
Being a member of this committee does not require any financial commitment.
The current process of allocating school funding in New Jersey is set by the School Funding Reform Act, passed in 2008.
The Education Law Center describes the act as a “‘weighted student formula’ delivering state and local funding driven by a ‘base cost,’ or the per pupil amount necessary to support the core curriculum program for every student regardless of need. The formula provides extra funding to support programs for at-risk students, limited English proficient students, and students with disabilities.”
However, cuts to state aid came in 2010 in the aftermath of the recession and are leaving many schools without the funding that was previously predicted.
James J. Lavender is the superintendent of Kingsway Regional and South Harrison Schools and the co-chair of the FFAC.
“You have about 19 districts or so in Gloucester County being underfunded at varying degrees,” he said.
Lavender mentioned Kingsway, Woodbury, Paulsboro and more are in this category and made reference to Clearview Regional as a district now being affected.
He describes the FFAC as, “a coalition of stakeholders, superintendents, elected officials, parents advocates all fighting for the same thing — to get this state to fund these schools in conformance with the SFRA. Move us away from adjustment aid. More us away from or eliminate enrollment caps.”
Mark Magyar of the New Jersey Senate Democratic Majority Office said Clearview and Harrison Township are among the 30 percent of districts that are getting more funding now than they would be entitled to if you ran the formula without growth cap and without the adjustment aid in it. If the hold harmless prevision were removed from the formula, both districts would be getting less state aid than they do now. Magyar further said the state provides no increase to some of the districts that fall into this category; however, those decisions are made by the governor’s office.
Lavender stated Kingsway student enrollment has increased by 45 percent over the past eight years, but state aid has not reflected that. Kingsway is receiving a 5 percent increase to its 2017–18 aid of $9,599,143. Washington Township is receiving a 2.1 percent hike, equivalent to a $1,016,549 increase to its $49,112,999 2017–18 amount.
The discontent at the numbers for districts such as Clearview Regional arises when aid amounts are compared to other districts even in other counties.
Lavender pointed out the FFAC sees Gov. Murphy’s first budget as having a major misstep.
“Murphy came out and he pledged $284 million of new formula funding for school districts. That’s great and is a step in the right direction, but in our opinion, it went to the wrong schools.”
He added, “We have schools that are thought to be overfunded for the SFRA formula that received increases in state aid while districts like Clearview received nothing … districts like Kingsway received a nominal 5 percent increase.”
Lavender stated there was a lack of thought involved at the allocation of funding.
“There is a lot of unity with the respects to all of us being in the same underfunded category,” he said.
John Horchak, Clearview Regional superintendent said, “It’s a major concern.”
Horchak mentioned rising salaries and health benefits with a zero percent increase does not lend to a positive budget development process.
“We will do everything we can to try to minimize any impact on the students. It’s going to limit our plans to add any new programs and services,” he said.
Referencing the one aspect of the school funding formula that is based on community wealth, Horchak said, “It seems to be the formula is relying more heavily on a community’s ability to pay.”
This, of course, means the taxpayers.
Even while taking into consideration the income average of a district, the funding formula places a 2 percent tax cap on districts during budget season. The district has expressed concern for raising taxes while pointing out a community’s ability to pay is “irrelevant” due to the cap.
“We are in a box and the box is getting very tight,” said Esther Pennell, Clearview business administrator. She added the district is “running out of places to look for cost savings.”
Entering the 2018–19 school year, Clearview Regional administrative costs per pupil will come in at $1,733, a number significantly lower than the regional limit of $2,083 permitted.
“We are well below the regional administrative costs for 2018–19,” Pennell said.
“Something has to change, it is not going to change unless the people in Trenton are motivated, and they are motivated when people scream about something,” Manzo said at the April 2 meeting and pointed to Harrison Township residents in attendance.
The question of how to adequately fund all schools in the state clearly does not have an easy answer.
Manzo referenced talks with state legislators, saying many times the conversation leads to discussing cuts to administrative costs.
However, with documentation provided by Clearview Regional School District, it shows the percentage of the school budget dedicated to administrative costs for New Jersey school systems ranks near the “bottom of the 50 states,” coming in at the fifth-lowest in the nation.
The national average percentage of administration expenditures in a school budget is 10.7; New Jersey’s percentage is 9.
For more information about the Fair Funding Action Committee, visit www.krsd.org/Page/1248.
