A huge and unexpected reduction in state aid to Bordentown Regional School District, announced by Gov. Phil Murphy on Feb. 29, sent the district scrambling to account for the shortfall in its preliminary 2024-25 budget.
That budget had to be submitted to the state just three weeks later, by March 20. Faced with a $1.6-million aid cut — or 16% less than the district received last year — the board of education approved a budget that called for the elimination of 30 staff members, music programs, world language programs and more.
The district has also proposed eliminating all extracurricular and sports activities at the middle school level as a result of the loss of state aid.
Both the aid cuts and the uncertainty they have caused have upset parents throughout the district, and indeed much of the state. Bordentown is just one of 140 districts that saw its funding cut for 2024-25.
The state legislature is now considering a number of bills aimed at providing aid to districts that have lost funding. But budgets must be finalized by May 1, and those bills may not become law in time to help, if at all.
While restoration of the lost aid is the only real solution, Bordentown Township is looking to help those parents — and their children — to find activities to fill the void the budget cuts may leave behind.
The township has announced a Youth Activities Open House scheduled to take place on June 1. Organizations and businesses throughout the area that provide recreational and creative opportunities for children have been invited to take part in the open house.
The township hopes that showcasing these local organizations and businesses will give kids and their parents an opportunity to see firsthand what else is out there besides in- and after-school activities.
Kelly Lozito, the newest member of the Bordentown Township Committee, is taking the lead on organizing the open house. Lozito is the township committee’s liaison to both the board of education and the parks and recreation department, which has oversight over youth sports in Bordentown.
“The expectation is that the final budget would remove all middle school sports and clubs,” Lozito told the Current. “That is what they have planned, unless they are allowed to push a solution through or apply to get grants that will make it possible to continue with these extracurricular and sports programs.”
Since so many of the clubs and sports that middle schoolers currently participate in may go away next school year, she wanted their parents in particular to know the opportunities available to their kids outside of school.
“Fingers crossed that they find some way around this, but whether the budget cuts happen or not, (the open house) would be a good opportunity for people to learn about things that they may not be aware of that they may want to do in our town,” Lozito said.
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With that in mind, the township sent out a letter last month to area organizations and businesses inviting them to take part in the open house.
Invitees included the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, Bordentown Field Hockey League, the Bordentown Area Basketball League, Bordentown Bulldogs Youth Football and Cheer, Bordentown soccer, Bordentown Little League, Spartan Boot Camp, Harmonie Dance, Central New Jersey Ballet Studio, Rudra Dance Academy, Team 85, Leaping Dog Art Studios and Just Make It Sew — to name a few.
The list is by no means comprehensive, and Lozito hopes to invite more entities to the open house between now and June 1. Lozito asks any organization interested in taking part to email her at k.lozito@bordentowntownship.org.
She also hopes that the open house will attract both organizations and families from Bordentown City and Fieldsboro.
“As a parent, my daughter is a Girl Scout, I’m a Girl Scout leader,” Lozito said. “She’s also in rec field hockey in Bordentown. She’s taken classes at Leaping Dog, she’s taken classes at Just Make It Sew and she also goes to Harmonie Dance, and she’s had a great experience at all of them.”
At the open house, Lozito envisions organizations setting up their own tables around the senior center and offering fliers and other takeaway material for people who are interested in what they have to offer. Some groups may be in their offseason on June 1, but should still be able to connect with kids who are potentially interested in participating in the next available season.
On the day she was sworn in as a committee member, Lozito pledged to be an advocate for youth activities in and around the township.
“It is a bad thing for the town, these budget cuts, but in a weird way, this is where I’m hopefully able to shine and show how useful I can be (as a township committee member),” Lozito said. “I’m jumping on every opportunity I can to make sure people are aware of alternatives and help them to not feel overwhelmed by all of the change that (budget cuts) may introduce.”
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The governor’s office revealed the $1.6-million aid cut to BRSD on Feb. 29 while touting an overall increase of more than $900 million in state education aid.
It is true that hundreds of New Jersey school districts saw state aid increase as a result of this announcement. The problem is that while districts like Newark ($101 million) and Trenton ($40.78 million) saw large spikes in state aid, districts like Bordentown, Cherry Hill (-$6.4 million) and Lenape (-$4.69 million) saw enormous cuts.
The fact is that Bordentown has seen its state aid reduced for three years running, with this year’s cut the worst of the three.
“For the last three years, our district, along with many others across the state, has witnessed our local taxpayers’ dollars being redirected to over 400 different school districts in New Jersey due to Senate Bill S2. This is disheartening, and it directly impacts our ability to provide for our students,” BRSD superindentent Trudy A. Atkins wrote in a letter to district families.
The fact that these cuts came three weeks before preliminary budgets were due to the state only increased anger and panic in districts that lost funding.
Yet districts that saw increases — including nearby Burlington City ($4.59 million), Burlington Township ($1.09 million) and North Hanover ($1.8 million) — will have felt differently about the Feb. 29 announcement and its impact on the next year’s budgets.
The state has been wrestling with state education aid funding inequality since the passing of Senate bill S2 in 2018. S2 itself was intended to remedy problems introduced by the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, but had failed to adequately do so as of this year.
It is understandable that the state would upset some districts while pleasing others in a rebalancing of any formula for state aid funding. However, the timing of the announcement left a great deal to be desired.
Democrat-sponsored bill A4161 (introduced in April) and Republican-sponsored bill A1125 (introduced in January) may yet restore lost funding to New Jersey’s 140 districts that saw state aid reduced.
Bill A4161 passed in the Assembly on April 15, and now rests with the Senate. Bill A1125, introduced on Jan. 9, was referred to the Assembly’s Education Committee that same day, and there it remains.
Athletes participate in a Bordentown Field Hockey League training session in 2022.,
