TOMS RIVER – The Board of Education unanimously voted against a budget that contained massive cuts and a tax increase, but the State Department of Education adopted the budget anyway.
Crafting a budget is a complicated, year-round process that comes to a head at the end of the state’s fiscal year, June 30.
However, school officials said they could not prepare a balanced budget. The state had cut too much aid and put too many restrictions on them that they were looking at a shortfall that could only be solved by the state giving more aid. So, they sued the state. The suit is still pending.
The board voted down the budget but the State Department of Education adopted the latest version of it instead.
“As a general matter, the Department believes that adopting a balanced budget is among the most basic and fundamental responsibilities a school district bears to provide a constitutionally required thorough and efficient education (T&E) to its students. While the Department does not underestimate the difficulty of these decisions – budget development and adoption is a complex, multi-faceted, even emotional process, given the importance of school programs to our students and communities – we also fully expect New Jersey’s world class district leaders to rise to that challenge,” the department said in a press release. “The difficulty of these decisions does not excuse any failure by district leaders or local boards of education to comply with one of their most critical statutory obligations to successfully oversee a public school system.”
Another school district, Jackson, also voted down their budget but it was overridden by the state. Jackson has been going through much of the same state aid issues as Toms River.
“Our action today is compelled so as to provide a balanced budget for both districts, ensuring that the failure by these boards of education to meet their budget adoption obligations does not impact the students in their respective districts. The Department has, and will continue to, consider all options available under its authority to take action in the event that a district risks falling short of its obligation to ensure the provision of T&E,” they said.
A letter to school board leaders from Interim Executive County Superintendent Susan Naples stated “The failure of your district to adopt a budget within the timeframe required by law is a serious matter and potentially bears upon your ethical responsibilities.”
“I am taking this action out of necessity to ensure an operating budget to deliver resources necessary for a thorough and efficient system of education for the students,” she said. The county superintendent is actually supervised by the state, despite the name.
District Response
School district officials responded angrily to the State DOE’s actions.
Superintendent Michael Citta said that this budget still includes the 9.9% tax increase and a hole that will cause the district to run out of money in April or May.
“We are still more than $12 million short of a balanced budget for this school year, which is part of the reason our school board rejected this measure in the first place. Therefore, we are continuing the pursuit of liquidating assets, and are in the process of appraising certain community assets that do NOT directly impact schools or student programs. Some examples include the office building at 1144 Hooper Avenue and the transportation yard that houses the largest board-owned bus fleet in the state, among other ancillary properties,” he said.
The district is still pursuing all legal channels to correct the funding formula, he said.
“Rest assured that as we pursue these routes, all student programs remain intact for the 2024-2025 school year. Please also know that, in light of this latest action by the state, it’s more important than ever for our community to remain united in order to protect our children’s futures, and for our residents and families to sign on for and support the battle we are undertaking. My promise to you remains that we will not relent, and I wholeheartedly appreciate your patience, understanding, resilience, and support as we fight for the future of the greater Toms River community,” he said.
Board President Kathleen Eagan and Board Vice President Joseph Nardini issued a joint statement calling the DOE’s actions “dictatorial and iron-fisted.”
The elected board members rejected a tax increase, while a non-elected bureaucrat usurped authority to impose taxation without representation, they said.
“Our ongoing dialogue with the NJDOE began, from our perspective, in earnest, hopeful and diplomatic,” Eagan said. “But that good faith was clearly one-sided, and this latest action on the state’s part reveals their contempt for this community and their willingness to cast blame on anyone but themselves for the untenable and unjustifiable position they’ve placed us in.”
They noted that besides the 9.9% increase, the board rejected the budget because it does not provide a “thorough and efficient” education to students.
“Thorough and efficient” or “T&E” is a term from the State DOE describing what needs to be provided in schools.
“The state, over the last seven years, has reduced Toms River Regional Schools’ aid by over $137 million,” Nardini said. “Now, the state, recognizing the harm that the massive and inequitable reduction has caused, shifted the burden from the seemingly limitless state coffers to working residents’ wallets.”
By the state’s own calculations, the district is under adequacy by almost $80 million, they said. There is a number that the state recommends to provide adequate education based on the size of the district and its needs, and Toms River is below that figure by approximately $80 million.
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