In 2018, the passage of Senate Bill 2 (S2) fundamentally changed how schools in New Jersey were funded, eliminating adjustment aid and capping state aid growth. For our district, this meant a significant loss of funding—$1,162,080, or around 10% of the budget.
Recognizing the gravity of this situation, David Van Ginneken and the Board of Education immediately took proactive steps to address the financial challenges ahead. A motion was introduced by David Van Ginneken to create an Ad-Hoc Committee dedicated to exploring cost-saving measures and potential shared services with surrounding districts. The committee’s goal was to navigate the budget shortfall without sacrificing the quality of education or services to our students.
The Ad-Hoc Committee, which included David Van Ginneken, Ron Hoffman, and several other board members, achieved remarkable results:
- Reducing Special Education Costs: By bringing services that were previously outsourced to other districts back into our own schools, we were able to reduce transportation costs and provide these essential services locally. This not only saved money but also allowed students to remain within their own community and attend school with their peers.
- Shared Services Agreements: We worked with neighboring districts to develop shared services agreements, which included sharing a business administrator, nurses, and teachers. This alignment allowed us to cut costs while maintaining the same level of educational quality.
- Curriculum Alignment: By better aligning our curriculum with surrounding districts, we reduced professional development costs, as these could now be shared across the participating schools.
Thanks to the efforts of the Ad-Hoc Committee, our district successfully avoided drastic cuts to programs and services that were seen in other towns impacted by S2. Instead of scaling back, we were able to expand services while maintaining a balanced budget—without going to referendum.
Our team is proud of the work we did to secure the financial future of our district. Moving forward, we remain committed to this same level of fiscal responsibility and collaboration, ensuring that we continue to meet the needs of our students without placing an unnecessary burden on our taxpayers.