State Increases Aid to Chatham School District

The School District of the Chathams will receive $1,034,012 in state aid in the 2011-2012 academic year, according to information released from the state Tuesday.

This amount brings the total change in state aid from the 2010-2011 academic year to $1,034,012, or double the $517,006 increase formerly allocated to Chatham

The School District of the Chathams Assistant Superintendent Michael LaSusa, Business Administrator Peter Daquila and Board of Education President Tom Belding would not immediately comment on the increased aid on Tuesday afternoon.

The increase in aid came as part of an $850-million allocation plan for the 2012 fiscal year budget that was announced by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration on Tuesday. The total is made up of three different parts: an initial $250 million that was initially authorized in increased school aid, an additional $150 million for non-Abbott districts, and $450 million to Abbott districts, which is slightly more than half of the total aid.

That $450 million is being distributed amongst 31 districts. That additional funding, according to a release by the Christie administration, fully funds the Abbott districts under the School Funding Reform Act formula.

“This year, New Jersey increased state aid to school districts by $850 million over last year, restoring every dollar of the cuts we were forced to make last year and increasing aid by an additional $30 million,” Christie said in the release.

The aid comes more than a year after the administration made aid cuts to all districts, which were announced on St. Patrick’s Day 2010. In many cases, the additional aid announced on Tuesday doubled the amount that was initially designated for non-Abbott districts.