JACKSON – District officials are lobbying the state to reverse cuts that have left them with a $1.35 million shortfall this year. But they can’t do it alone. They are also calling for parents to support efforts that would return Jackson to the funding amounts it had.
The Jackson School District has joined at least 11 school districts to fight against the recent cuts to state aid involving litigation for “what we consider to be an unjust and inequitable school funding law known as S2,” Superintendent Stephen Genco said.
“We want people to see the real dilemma, that this district is now in year two of S2,” Genco said during a recent board meeting where the board announced the start of its budget preparation. If funding doesn’t change, the district will look a lot different in future years.
Genco has stated for months now that the state aid cuts will not only affect the current school year but would impact several years to come.
According to the district’s website, “Under this funding law, the Jackson School District stands to lose a total of $17.3 million in aid over the next seven years. This would have a devastating impact on our programs and students.”
A presentation shown during a recent Board of Education meeting showed the estimated cuts that the district will receive:
- 2019-2020 = $1.35 million
- 2020-2021 = $1.7 million
- 2021-2022 = $2.4 million
- 2022-2023 = $3.1 million
- 2023-2024 = $3.6 million
- 2024-2025 = $4.1 million
Genco said he would be meeting with various parent groups within the Jackson School District and urging parents to take action to help restore state aid funding for students of the district. “This is a starting point tonight,” Genco said during a Feb. 19 board meeting.
“We are asking our parents to get involved now. I’ve been going to PTA to PTA meeting and going to faculty meeting to faculty meeting,” Genco said.
According to the district’s website the administration is calling their advocacy plan an “ABC” method, or “Advocating By Communication.”
Jackson Township falls under the state’s 12th district which is represented by Senator Samuel D. Thompson, Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer, and Assemblyman Robert D. Clifton. Genco said the district may also contact State Department of Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet and Senate President Stephen Sweeney about the issue.
“We’ve been meeting with our legislators Assemblyman Dancer, Assemblyman Clifton and Sen. Thompson,” Genco added.
“When they (State education representatives) talk about us being over budget I don’t know what numbers they are using to equate that,” Genco said.
“It is hypocritical to say we are over funded when we are spending under our means. The lawsuit is asking for us to see how they are spending that money and divvying it up because it makes no sense to us and it makes no sense to the other districts,” Genco said.
“We are also part of the 71 district SOS (Save Our Schools) lobbying arm, 107 districts lost funding and 480 gained funding. We don’t begrudge those who gained funding that they were entitled but what we are asking out of that group is to actually freeze funding until you have accurate numbers to look at,” Genco added.
Genco said that “when we say accurate numbers what we mean is that there is over 50 towns that have not been re-assessed in years and part of the funding formula is developed from the assessment of the town.”
Towns are periodically re-assessed, during which tax assessors visit every neighborhood and determine what every property is worth. This is done to ensure that everyone is paying their fair share of taxes. Critics of the new school funding formula have pointed out that some towns do not have updated assessments and so they are more wealthy than they appear on paper.
“I can tell you that if these cuts stay intact, this district will not look like anything like it does now between programs and staffing,” Genco said.
Genco said however that “I don’t believe it will remain so because I don’t believe the legislative body would want to be responsible for what would happen to districts. Fiscally, we are in better shape than many of the large districts that are getting hit with the exact same cuts. Toms River, Brick, Old Bridge, Manalapan, Englishtown are all districts that are part of the lawsuit.
“That said, were it to remain intact through year three and four we would be looking at programs and tremendous amount of staff impacted. I don’t know how we would handle it. We do have ideas on how we will get to the numbers this year,” Genco said.
Details on the state aid cuts and related information can be found on the district’s website.
