JACKSON - Jackson public school officials — who may be forced to lay off another round of teachers, eliminate all but legally required busing, and eliminate sports and extracurriculars — are beseeching Gov. Phil Murphy and Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer to give the district a means of balancing the school budget without resorting to draconian cuts.
The Jackson School District has faced $22.4 million in state funding cuts since 2018, and officials now say they are unable to close a resulting $30 million budget gap in a reasonable way.
In an April 19 letter, Superintendent Nicole Pormilli, Assistant Superintendent Daniel Baginski and the seven-member Board of Education urged state officials to act before the district is forced to take drastic measures in the coming school year.
"This future generation cannot afford to lose more teachers, more opportunities and more experiences and should not be denied a truly comprehensive, healthy and safe educational experience," the Jackson administrative team wrote.
The massive budget gap is the result of years of declining state aid in combination with a 2% state-mandated cap on tax levy increases. The cap prevents the district from raising taxes to keep pace with inflation and aid cuts.
Last November, school leaders tried to raise money through a special ballot question. The question would have raised spending by $4 million to hire additional teachers and counselors, but the initiative was rejected by voters.
Under state law, school districts must balance their budgets. But Jackson school officials said they cannot cut $30 million from their budget and yet meet their obligation to provide students with a thorough education.
"We are fiscally responsible," Jackson School District officials wrote in their recent letter. "We have had two outside auditors look at our financial reporting, along with the Ocean County Superintendent and our state-appointed monitor. All four have concluded that we have been fiscally responsible prior to and throughout the S2 funding period. Yet here we are in a critical, unsustainable position."
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"S2" is the state school funding formula that determined that Jackson taxpayers should be shouldering a higher percentage of their local education costs.
To help close the resulting budget gap, Jackson officials had obtained a $10 million loan from the state Department of Education last year. When they sought another loan this year, they were rejected.
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A spokesman for the Department of Education declined to comment earlier this month on Jackson's loan request, but said that school district loans are infrequently distributed.
"In extremely rare instances, and only when certain fiscal conditions are met, state law does empower the Commissioner of Education to recommend to the state Treasurer an approval of an 'advance state aid payment' to ensure the provision of a thorough and efficient education in the current budget year, after adoption of a balanced budget," spokesman Howard R. Seidman said in an email.
Already, Jackson has eliminated more than 200 teaching positions, gymnastics, ice hockey and certain AP courses. Now, the district hopes to avoid cutting all sports, band, theater, extracurriculars and clubs, school resource officers, tutoring and courtesy busing. Integral facilities and educational upgrades would continue to put off, to students' detriment, officials said.
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Jackson officials say the state department has shorted the district millions of dollars in aid to help pay for transportation, special education and security. At the same time, Jackson's costs for busing have ballooned as more families who move to the township send their children to private schools.
In addition, the numbers of public school students who do not speak English fluently — or at all — and who need educational supports have swollen, according to school officials.
"This has created an insurmountable challenge," the district officials wrote.
The state Assembly passed a bill (A-4161) last week that aims to restore state funding to many of the districts most affected by the S2 cuts, including Jackson. The bill would restore $71.4 million in state funding to schools and permit certain districts to exceed the 2% tax levy growth cap for the 2024-25 school year. The bill has yet to pass the state Senate.
Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers education and the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than 15 years. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.
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