Toms River Schools Receive $7.6M In Stabilization Aid From State

Toms River NJ

29 October, 2021

5:33 AM

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TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional School District will receive $7.6 million in stabilization aid from the state Department of Education, officials formally announced Thursday. The approval of the stabilization aid temporarily eases the financial distress created in the district under S2, the state law that has continuously cut state funding to the Toms River schools since it was signed into law in July 2018. "Toms River Regional Schools is relieved and extremely grateful for Governor Murphy's announcement today that our requested $7.6 million in stabilization aid will be provided," Interim Superintendent Stephen Genco said. "On behalf of our students and staff, I thank our board members and community supporters who spent time and effort behind the scenes to fight for our district and for Toms River; our team here who thoroughly and successfully developed our comprehensive application for stabilization aid; and of course Governor Murphy, who has heard our collective voice and who has responded. This is indeed wonderful and welcome news," Genco said. The funding "will help immensely in terms of addressing our current fiscal situation as the state continues to review the school aid formula and we work toward having a formula that provides adequate and sustained funding for all school districts," said business administrator William Doering, who has been vocal in the district's funding fight and led the development of the district's application for stabilization aid. "We're undoubtedly most appreciative of this funding," said Doering, who also is a key member of the statewide SOS coalition of S2-affected NJ school districts. Under S2, Toms River's state aid was being reduced on the basis of a funding formula that proponents claim shows the district (and nearly a third of New Jersey's districts) are not carrying their fair share of the property tax burden for education. Those yearly state aid cuts have come with a 2 percent increase in the district's property tax levy that also was mandated in S2. The state's decision to provide the full amount requested stands in contrast to the 2019-2020 school year, when Toms River received $854,000 out of the $4.473 million the district requested. Toms River has been fighting the S2 funding cuts that started in the wake of the Fiscal Year 2017 budget battle between then Gov. Chris Christie and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. That fight has included thousands of student letters delivered to the state Assembly, and hundreds of Toms River students and staff turning out for a rally in Trenton to press lawmakers to halt the cuts. There have been email campaigns to contact lawmakers and efforts behind the scenes to make clear to decision-makers the seriousness of the financial distress. Doering said the approved aid will help the district develop its 2022-2023 budget, and prevent staffing cuts. The district was forced to cut 40 positions for the 2021-22 school year, a number that could have been much higher if not for pandemic-relief funding. In total, the district applied for $7,641,573 in its application to the state Department of Education, the district said. "A lot of hard work from a lot of dedicated people who truly care about this district helped make this happen," said Joseph Nardini, president of the Toms River Regional Board of Education. "Now we can move forward, albeit temporarily, with some fiscal certainty and peace of mind, and for that I thank Governor Murphy." "This is the first piece of good news we've received since we started this funding fight years ago," Nardini said. "But it's a biggie." Click here to get Patch email notifications, or download our app to have breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. Have a news tip? Email [email protected] Follow Toms River Patch on Facebook.