Schools

Superintendent 'Disappointed' in Flat State Aid

The state Department of Education said state aid will remain level from last year.

Superintendent Michael LaSusa expressed disappointment at the news that state aid to the School District of the Chathams would remain flat from the 2012-13 school year.

"I'm disappointed because we have been told in past years by the Department of Education that the goal has been to get us to the funding level in place prior to the drastic cuts of [2010]," LaSusa said.

Gov. Chris Christie sharply reduced aid to schools for the 2010-11 school year in many districts throughout the state. Aid to Chatham was reduced by $2.58 million, or 86.3 percent from the levels they had in 2009-10.

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some districts, including Madison, saw their state aid eliminated entirely.

"This is the first year since those drastic cuts that we did not receive an increase in aid. We are still below the level of funds that we had in 2009," LaSusa said. "Each year subsequent to that we've gotten a little bit back but this year we'll be flat."

Find out what's happening in Chathamwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The figures for state aid to school districts, released by the New Jersey Department of Education Thursday, show that the School District of the Chathams will receive $1,871,941 in state aid.

This amount shows a one-year increase of $429,210 or 29.7 percent over the $1,442,731 received in the 2011-12 academic year.

The initial budget presented by LaSusa at Monday's Board of Education meeting assumed that state aid would remain flat. "Unfortunately, that was a good assumption," he said.

The table below shows state aid to the district over the years.

School Year
Aid Amount
Net Change
Annual % Change
2008-09
$2,848,236 --
--
2009-10
$2,990,648 $142,412
5%
2010-11
$408,719 -$2,581,929
-86.3%
2011-12
$1,442,731 $1,034,102
253%
2012-13
$1,871,941 $429,210 29.7%
2013-14
$1,871,941  $0
0


Despite the seemingly large increase in state aid between the 2010-11 and 2011-12 school years, LaSusa pointed out that the overall difference between 2009-10 and 2011-12 is $1,118,707.

"So our enrollment has gone up by about 200 students, or more than five percent, since 2009-10, but our state aid is 37 percent lower today than it was that year," he said.

Sequestration

New Jersey could lose nearly $12 million in funding for primary and secondary education if Congress fails to halt the “sequestration” by Friday, according to figures released by the White House.

LaSusa said he had "no real indication" of how sequestration cuts could affect the district. "Our concern is that the funding we get tied to special education could be reduced, but we're waiting to see what actually shapes up in Washington," he said.


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