Secure Fair Funding for Bordentown Regional School District
Bordentown's Elected Representatives (Senator Troy Singleton, Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, Assemblyman Herb Conaway, Congressman Andy Kim
Under Governor Murphy's proposed FY25 budget and per legislative formulas, state aid to Bordentown Regional School District will be reduced by $1.6 million, resulting in teacher layoffs, elimination of elementary school music programs & middle school sports, and the implementation of a $300 participation fee for every high school extracurricular activity.
Petition by
To:
Bordentown's Elected Representatives (Senator Troy Singleton, Assemblywoman Carol Murphy, Assemblyman Herb Conaway, Congressman Andy Kim
From:
[Your Name]
Over the past two years, BRSD has experienced a loss of $2.2 million dollars in state aid, including a $1.6 million dollar reduction for FY25 in Governor Murphy's proposed state education budget of $11.7 billion.
In response to these cuts, the proposed BRSD FY25 budget calls for the elimination of 30 jobs, including 14 elementary school teachers and 5 secondary school teachers, ensuring that class sizes for students will increase. Music instruction for grades 4 and 5 will be eliminated, as will all middle school sports. High school students will be charged a $300 participation fee per extracurricular activity (hopefully capped at $600 per student or family) at the high school, likely diminishing participation significantly.
We call on our elected representatives to demand swift corrective action via one or both of the following pieces of legislation, prior to approval of the FY25 state budget:
S3058 – Establishes inflationary State school aid growth limit and permits districts to apply for Necessary Stabilization Aid.
S3072 Provides $105M in Supplemental Aid to certain districts.
We also call on you to make all reasonable and necessary adjustments to ensure the passage of either legislation. S3058 in its current form would reduce aid to 308 districts and is extremely unlikely to pass. S3072 would only rectify the aid discrepancy for FY25, and does not codify that BRSD would receive all of the funding needed to make up the shortfall.
In the event you are unable to secure passage of either bill, we call on you to withhold your vote in favor of the Governor's FY25 state budget until an adequate remedy is statutorily guaranteed.
In addition, we call on you to ensure prompt passage of:
S2434 - Provides tax levy cap adjustment for certain school districts with state aid reductions
S2071 - Requires five-year average of equalized property valuation be used in calculation of school funding
As your consistuents, we remind you that the health, welfare and education of our children should always be your first priority as elected officials, and we are extremely disappointed that it requires a special petition to ensure your prompt and effective attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
Bordentown Parents for Fair School Funding