Administrators in four local school districts are facing an Aug. 1 deadline to tell state officials how they will revise the budget they have in place for the 2018-19 school year after a sudden reduction in the state aid being provided to those districts was announced on July 13.
In the Freehold Regional High School District, under Gov. Phil Murphy’s initial proposal in March, the district’s state aid package for the 2018-19 school year was expected to total $51.564 million. Using that number, district administrators crafted a $206 million budget for the 2018-19 school year.
However, the district’s state aid amount changed on July 13 when a bill signed into law by Murphy after negotiations with leaders in the state Legislature trimmed Freehold Regional’s state aid for 2018-19 to $50.296 million.
The Freehold Regional Board of Education had a meeting scheduled for July 23 and Assistant Superintendent for Business Administration Sean Boyce said he expected the board members to make a decision on the $1.27 million budget revision that evening.
A resolution on the meeting’s agenda indicated the board would appropriate $1.27 million from the district’s surplus funds to account for the loss in state aid, without reducing the budget.
In the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, under Murphy’s initial proposal in March, the district’s state aid package for the 2018-19 school year was expected to total $19.938 million. Using that number, district administrators crafted a $94 million budget for the upcoming school year.
The district’s state aid amount has been trimmed to $18.773 million. Manalapan-Englishtown administrators are now determining how to make up for the loss of $1.17 million they included in the budget for the 2018-19 school year. The school board has scheduled a meeting for July 31.
In the Marlboro K-8 School District, under Murphy’s initial proposal in March, the district’s state aid package for the 2018-19 school year was expected to total $11.688 million. Using that number, district administrators crafted a $92.3 million budget for the upcoming school year.
The district’s state aid amount has been trimmed to $11.161 million. Marlboro administrators are now determining how to make up for the loss of $527,000 they included in the budget for the 2018-19 school year. The school board has scheduled a meeting for July 31.
In the Freehold Township K-8 School District, under Murphy’s initial proposal in March, the district’s state aid package for the 2018-19 school year was expected to total $4.596 million. Using that number, district administrators crafted an $81.6 million budget for the upcoming school year.
The district’s state aid amount has been trimmed to $4.527 million. Freehold Township administrators are now determining how to make up for the loss of $68,000 they included in the budget for the 2018-19 school year. The school board has scheduled a meeting for July 31.
Under Murphy’s initial proposal in March, the Colts Neck K-8 School District’s state aid for 2018-19 was expected to total $1.136 million. Using that number, district administrators crafted a $25.8 million budget. The district’s state aid remained unchanged at $1.136 million in the state’s July 13 update, which means no revisions to the budget are necessary.
