JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – Brick township schools face possible layoffs in the 2023-24 school budget process. In Toms River, school board officials are also preparing for a budget shortfall next year due to Governor Phil Murphy’s secret school funding formula that sends much of the local property tax revenue to inner city schools in Democrat-controlled parts of New Jersey.
In Jackson Township, unequal school funding at the state level could soon cause major problems for the district.
A school board official in Jackson Township who wishes to remain unidentified today said the Jackson Township School District could be facing a budget shortfall of as much as $9 million next year.
That shortfall could prompt the board of education here to seek additional funding through a budget referendum election.
Voters would be asked to approve a budget exceeding the state’s annual increase cap of 2%. If voters reject the ballot referendum, the district would be forced to make cuts.
Some in town are calling for the district to start making intelligent cuts at the top and to cease making low-level staffing cuts in favor of high-salary administrators, in many cases whose jobs overlap each other.
Enrollment in Jackson’s public school district has been in decline for years, from nearly 10,000 students several years ago to just 7,671.
According to state records, the Jackson School District employs 623 teachers and 312 administrators, administrative support staff and instructional aides with a total staff of 1,291.