JACKSON, NJ – The Jackson Township School District is being forced to sell a beloved community elementary school in an underserved part of town after state aid cuts under Governor Phil Murphy have placed the district in an dire financial situation.
Murphy made no secret of his position on forcing school districts to start shutting down educational facilities.
“You got three high schools, you should have two. You have five middle schools, you should have four. Those are hard discussions to have inside of a community, and I get that,” the governor said.
The governor and the state legislature have refused to properly fund the Jackson School district as state mandates totalling millions of dollars remain unpaid by the state, burdening the district. Those mandates include private bussing for private school students and ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction for Hispanic students. Both are very large issues and budget line items for the district.
The district later sent an email to students and parents announcing the immediate closure.
“Given the size of our continued budget deficit – and the Department of Education requiring us to submit a balanced budget in order to operate our schools in September, there is simply no other way than to move forward with impactful decisions, including the immediate closing and readying for sale of the Sylvia Rosenauer Elementary School. Please read the information carefully, and know that we will continue to provide updates as decisions are made,” the district said.
Instead, Murphy has put the district in the position of having to sell Rosenauer Elementary School for $8 million to get a one time budget adjustment in 2024.
“Although we have advocated strongly, the NJ DOE is insisting the district submit a “balanced budget” for approval. HOWEVER, the Jackson School District CANNOT LIVE WITH making the MILLIONS of DOLLARS in CUTS it would take to balance the budget after $22.4 million in aid losses over 7 years,” the district said in a statement recently.
The new budget proposed by the district will force the sale of Rosenauer Elementary School unless Phil Murphy and the state legislature address current funding deficiencies regarding the district’s unique problems.
Many in New Jersey believe Murphy’s S2 funding formula is a punitive device that punishes school districts in communities that overwhelmingly voted against the governor in the past two elections. Murphy has ignored pleas from local officials to step in and restore cuts made during his administration.
Instead, Jackson has become a larger sending district, meaning most of the taxes paid to the state for education go to inner cities instead of helping local students. Essentially, Jackson taxpayers are funding massive school projects in cities like Newark and Camden while their school district struggles financially. It is part of the governor’s ‘equitable’ and ‘equity’ agenda for New Jersey.