LACEY, NJ — The 2023-24 budget was a difficult one for the Lacey Township School District. After fighting for months to restore state funding, the district still came up $1.3 million short, cutting jobs and programs. And unfortunately, it doesn’t look like the district will see any improvements in the upcoming school year.
READ MORE: What’s Staying, What’s Cut In 2023 Lacey School District Budget
“As much as it pains me to say this, the outlook for Lacey’s 2024-25 school budget does not look much better than it did this time last year,” said Superintendent Vanessa Pereira at a recent Board of Education meeting.
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Business Administrator Sharon Ormsbee gave a brief presentation sharing an overview of the upcoming budget.
“We think it’ll be a $1.2 million reduction next year,” Ormsbee said. This will make a total net reduction of about $10 million in state aid over the past seven years, since the introduction of the controversial S2 law. In that time, among other cuts, the district has reduced its staff by 102 positions, Ormsbee said.
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S2, which was signed into law in 2018, targeted districts that were said to be overfunded and losing enrollment, particularly districts that were receiving so-called “adjustment aid” when the School Funding Reform Act of 2008 took effect.
The S2 aid cuts are scheduled to end with the 2024-25 school budget year, but there is no indication what will happen beyond then.
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School officials said they would be working to see what can be done. The board has been having regular finance committee meeting and hopes to meet with legislators both local and statewide, including State Sen. Vin Gopal who championed returning money to schools last year. Read more: $102M To Ease NJ School Funding Cuts Under Deal, Gopal Says
“We will update the community as information becomes available to us,” Pereira said.
This article contains additional reporting by Karen Wall.
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