Sweeney Holds School Funding Roundtable At Kingsway Regional

Forum Brings Focus On Need for Timely Action To Produce Fair Funding

Woolwich – Senate President Steve Sweeney joined with local officials, educators and others today in a roundtable discussion on the School Funding Reform Act that will provide full funding to all school districts in New Jersey, a plan that will deliver a boost for the schools in the Kingsway Regional School System, as well as the many other communities that are underfunded by the current school aid formula.

“Kingsway is one of the many districts that are severely underfunded by a system that allocates aid in a disproportionate way,” said Senator Sweeney. “We need to reform the funding practices in New Jersey so that all the school districts are fully funded with their fair share of state aid. it’s a matter of fairness and equity for every community and their students.”

Kingsway is funded at only 46 percent of the formula. It would receive an additional $10.6 million in aid under Senator Sweeney’s plan by bringing the district to 100 percent of the formula. The school system is among the 66 percent of districts in New Jersey receiving less than they should, according to the state aid formula.

Kingsway is a regional district that includes students from Swedesboro, South Harrison, East Greenwich, Woolwich and from Logan Township, who attend through a receiver agreement. Kingsway would get an increase of $10.6 million, the Swedesboro-Woolwich local regional district would get an increase of $5.5 million, East Greenwich would get an increase of $3.7 million and South Harrison would get an increase of $307,000.

Jim Lavender, the Superintendent of Kingsway, joined with other participants in the forum in stressing the importance of acting quickly to get a reform plan in place.

“The problems caused by the lopsided funding system become worse year after year,” said Superintendent Lavender. “It puts a severe strain on the schools that are treated unfairly, undermining our ability to support our schools fully and putting more pressure on local taxpayers. I join the chorus of educators and advocates in urging state leaders to follow through on the commitment to making needed reforms.”

Senator Sweeney, other legislators, educators, advocacy groups and local officials have identified two add-ons to the state’s school funding formula as “fatal flaws” that cause a lopsided distribution of aid.

“We need to follow through on all the work that has been done in identifying the problems with the current formula and in creating a plan to address them,” said Assemblyman Adam Taliaferro, who participated in the forum. “This is a growing problem for Kingsway but it is a problem that is shared among districts throughout the state. We have solutions we just need to put them in place.”

The school funding law of 2008 was altered to include provisions that have prevented districts with increased student enrollment from receiving fair compensation at the same time other school systems are over compensated with so-called “hold harmless” aid that gives them money for students they don’t have.

The two add-ons were intended to be temporary but continue to be funded eight years later, exacerbating a disparity that leaves some districts with as little as 40 percent funding while others get 140 percent or more of the formula aid.

To help rectify the problem of enrollment growth, Senator Sweeney sponsored a law that provides additional state aid for districts that experienced growth of 13 percent or more from 2008-2011. As a result, each year for the last four years, Kingsway has received an additional $922,000 in aid, Swedesboro-Woolwich has received $964,000, East Greenwich has received $540,000 and South Harrison has received $150,000.  However, even with these increases, all of these districts remain underfunded.

Senator Sweeney is also advocating for an increase in state support of $100 million a year for five years.

In addition to the $500 million in increased aid, the $600 million in adjustment aid that is now overfunding some districts would be reallocated. This redistribution of hold harmless adjustment aid to underfunded school districts will help to eliminate the enrollment growth cap that discriminates against growing school districts in both cities and suburbs.

The Senate created a special bipartisan committee to examine the state’s school funding system and to make recommended reforms. The study committee will also assess the impact of tax growth on the ability of school districts to fund their schools, evaluate special education services, look at per-pupil administrative costs, the fairness of the current equalized valuation and income measure, and the impact of property tax abatements. It will also look for recommendations to lower property taxes.

Also participating today were: Swedesboro Mayor Thomas Fromm; Swedesboro Councilwoman Alice O’Bennis; Patricia Calandro, Chief Academic Officer; Jason Schimpf, School Business Administrator; James Mueller, President, East Greenwich BOE; Lauren Boerlin, Vice President, East Greenwich BOE; Christie Comerford, Member, East Greenwich BOE; Deborah Cunningham, Member, South Harrison BOE; Dr. Michele Blair, Member, Woolwich BOE; Pamela Roney, Member, Woolwich BOE; Lisa Mordecai-Daniel, Member, Woolwich BOE; Mia Randazzo, Member, Woolwich BOE; and  Jennifer Cavallaro-Fromm, Co-Chair, Kingsway Fair Funding Action Committee.