NORTHERN VALLEY — The new state aid funding formula the state Legislature approved fails to help districts in the Northern Valley, top education leaders said.
The state formula assesses how much aid districts will receive based on what the state deems their "adequate spending" to be. More affluent districts, such as the majority of those in Bergen County, see negligible differences in the amount of state aid they will receive. This is because most districts in the area spend more than what the state deems adequate so they have to use more of the money they receive to offset the tax levy.
According to Northern Valley Regional High School Business Administrator Raymond Jacobus, the district will receive $2,316,360 in state aid for the 2008/2009 year. This is $210,578 higher than last year, but of that number the district must use $149,721 to offset the tax levy. This allows the district to grow the budget by approximately $60,857, only 0.01 percent based on a budget of $44,188,577, Jacobus said.
An important change, Jacobus said, was made to the formula, which determines how much extraordinary aid (money given for special needs students) a district will receive. Under the new formula a district qualifies for aid for students who cost the district more than $55,000. A district will get 75 percent of the difference between $55,000 and the actual expense. Previously, districts received aid for students costing the district more than $40,000.
Also, in the past "that was an aid we applied for after the budget passed," said Jacobus, whereas now it is included in the state summary.
Closter Public School Business Administrator Peter Iapelli echoes Jacobus’ sentiment, saying this funding formula doesn’t help Closter.
"If we were left with the flat aid they gave last year we would be better off," Iapelli said.
Iapelli said the funding formula is "not meant to help districts like Closter," which does not have many students who apply for free and reduced lunch, a percentage, which the state heavily weighs when considering how much aid a district receives.
"Very few people [in Closter] have incomes that qualify for free lunch. Thirteen students, that’s 1.4 percent, whereas in an Abbott district it’s about 85 percent," said Iapelli. Abbott districts are those that have the lowest socio-economic funding and therefore qualify for more state funding.
Iapelli said the projected increase in state aid for Closter is $72,441, $52,000 of which will be given back to the taxpayer. That leaves the district with approximately $20,400 to put toward the budget.
In addition, he said, the "$52,000 over the whole tax base is pennies," which no one will see the benefit of.
Superintendent of Old Tappan school district, Bill Ward, stated in an e-mail last week that the district will receive an additional $48,000. He stated his concerns with wealth-based special education aid: "Why should Bergen County districts receive less money to educate our special education students than other counties in the state?"
Ward also pointed to the high cost of living in Bergen County, saying that makes the negligible state aid unfair.
