Toms River superintendent vows to fight proposed $14 million state aid cut

TOMS RIVER -- In spite facing what he's termed "a fiscal apocalypse" caused by the potential loss of $14.4 million in state aid, Toms River Regional Superintendent Mike Citta vowed last night that the budget the district will produce for the 2023-2024 school year "will not cut programs for kids."

Citta was speaking at the Budget & Finance Committee meeting of the school board, less than a week after he and other Toms River school leaders learned of the massive aid cut, which slashed nearly 32% over last year's figure.

He said since learning that about the aid cut, included in Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed state budget, he has made numerous phone calls asking that funding be restored. He said he has written letters to state officials, legislators and Murphy, among others -- "everybody and their mother and their uncle," and received what he described as an "encouraging" email from state Sen. Vin Gopal, D-Monmouth, who chairs the Education Committee.

Citta expressed confidence that the district will regain between $13.5 and $14.5 million in revenue, hopefully from the state, but if not, "from as many different sources as we have." He encouraged community members as well as school staff, parents and anyone who cares about he district to get involved in efforts to recover or raise the money.

"We are required to provide a thorough and efficient education," Citta said, "and $14.4 million in loss of aid does not enable us to do that. So when I talk about an apocalypse of all proportions, you can imagine a school district that has no extras, no frills, no additives and no preservatives and you could speculate on all those types of things."

After years of funding cuts under the state's education aid formula, S2, Toms River Regional has already lost 186 positions, including more than 140 teaching jobs. Another 90 jobs in the district are being funded with federal COVID funds, which will expire in a year, and incorporating the state aid cut into the 2023-2024 budget would result in another 200 lost positions, Citta said.

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That adds up to 476 positions, a figure that Citta said would make it impossible for the district to operate.

"So really what we have is a revenue issue and this is our focus. We are working on a budget that does not cut programs, that keeps it as trim as can be. The only fat left in Toms River schools is under my belt buckle," he said, drawing laughter from board members and administrators.

Monmouth and Ocean counties are proposed to lose nearly $46 million in state education funding despite a state budget that increases spending on schools overall. Data from the state Department of Education shows 43 districts in Monmouth and Ocean counties would lose a combined $60.4 million next school year, with Toms River Regional, Asbury Park, Freehold Regional and Jackson school districts taking some of the biggest hits.

The cuts to the Jersey Shore school districts come despite Gov. Phil Murphy's proposed budget adding more than $834 million in K-12 education statewide. Monmouth, Ocean and Cape May counties were the only counties to lose money under Murphy's budget proposal.

Several Shore schools have suffered drastic cutbacks in state aid dating back to 2018 when state Senate Bill 2, or S2, realigned the school funding formula in the state.

Toms River and other Jersey Shore districts have long objected to the state's latest school funding formula, which has shifted money from districts with declining enrollment, like Toms River Regional, to faster-growing districts. School leaders have long contended that the formula unfairly penalizes efficient districts — like Toms River Regional — that have per pupil costs below the state average.

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Toms River Mayor Maurice B. "Mo" Hill Jr. and township council members expressed support for the district March 7, with Hill calling the aid cuts "unconscionable." The council adopted a resolution to explore options for assisting the schools that was proposed by Council Vice President Kevin M. Geoghegan.

"It is devastating for our schools," Geoghegan said. "The schools are our community."

Unlike Citta, who was careful not to portray the funding cut as a partisan issue, GOP Mayor Hill and Republican council members attacked the Murphy administration, saying the state aid cuts appear aimed at Republican areas that did not support the Democratic governor in the 2022 election.

Councilman Justin Lamb called the state's aid funding a "redistribution to liberal Democrats," saying it's "pretty clear where the school aid money is gifted." He noted that Essex County cities would receive aid increases; Newark, for example, is slated to get $114 million more, bringing its state aid total to about $1.15 billion.

Toms River's state aid would drop from $45.4 to $30.9 million.

Councilman Daniel Rodrick, who is a teacher in Middletown, said "$14 million is an outrageous number. The reduction in aid is going to be devastating for our community."

Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics at the Jersey Shore for nearly 38 years. She's also passionate about the Shore's storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle,  jmikle@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River superintendent determined to fight $14 million aid cut