HOWELL – Despite years of losing state aid, the Howell Township K-8 School District is slated to receive an increase in state funding for the 2024-25 school year.
The New Jersey Department of Education recently released State Aid Summaries in lieu of the preliminary budget Governor Phil Murphy announced for the 2025 fiscal year.
According to the NJ Department of Education, the total state aid for Howell School District is $22,118,857, an increase of $1,517,548 or 7.79 percent. In 2023-2024, Howell received $20,601,309 in total state aid, which was a $1.7 million reduction from the previous year.
Other school districts in the area includes Farmingdale, who also is receiving more aid in 2024-25. They are receiving $589,115, an increase of $47,823 from the 2023-24 school year.
Freehold Regional High School District, which is home to Howell High School, will see no change in its aid level for 2024-25.
The state determines its distribution of education aid through a funding formula passed in 2018 called S-2. Although the goal of S-2 is to restore funding to districts that are underfunded, the bill has become quite controversial for doing the opposite for local districts.
The Fiscal Year 2025 budget plan marks the seventh and final year of the S-2 funding formula.
On February 29, Murphy announced the $55.9 billion spending plan, which includes $11.7 billion in funding for New Jersey public schools.
“This year’s budget proposal builds on our work to empower students by ensuring they receive the high-quality education necessary to support life-long success,” Governor Murphy said. “Since day one of my Administration, I have remained committed to bolstering New Jersey’s school communities and working toward fully funding our best-in-the-nation public education system. Over the past seven years, we have made strategic investments – maintaining our momentum to fully fund New Jersey’s school funding formula for the first time in our state’s history – because investments in education don’t just benefit our children’s futures, they benefit us all.”
“By adding $908 million in K-12 formula aid, the Governor is proposing to fully fund New Jersey’s school funding formula for the first time since it was established in 2009. This funding represents the single largest investment in the budget proposal,” according to a press release.
“This marks a milestone for education in New Jersey,” said Senate President Nick Scutari. “For the first time in history we can fully fund the school aid formula. The state financing will give educators the support they need to provide a quality education for students throughout the state. It will help communities strengthen their schools and provide direct assistance to avoid property tax increases.”
At the time of publication, the Howell Township K-8 School District made no comments on the state aid funding.
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