School Funding Formula 

84% of Little Silver's operating budget is funded by the local tax levy.  Only 3.9% comes from state aid.  So why is the school funding formula so important to the residents of Little Silver?  Any decrease in state aid creates a deficit and shifts more responsibility onto the tax payers.

New Jersey is reviewing its school funding formula, known as the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA), to determine whether changes are needed to make State aid more predictable and better reflect the costs districts face today. Areas under consideration include how district wealth and income are calculated, how special education aid is determined, how changes in State aid are phased in, and whether districts should have additional flexibility when setting local tax levies. Several bills currently before the Legislature address these issues, including proposals to use actual special education enrollment when calculating aid, provide greater transparency into State-aid calculations, and limit the impact of significant year-to-year aid reductions. The State is expected to continue gathering input from school districts and other stakeholders as it considers potential changes. Little Silver will continue to monitor these discussions and advocate for a funding system that provides stability and accurately reflects the needs and costs of our district.

What legislation are we Watching?

S1767:  This is significant for Little Silver because the current SFRA formula assumes districts have a statewide-average percentage of students receiving special education services rather than basing the calculation on each district's actual number of classified students.

A5221:   This bill has a broader scope and would make several changes to New Jersey's school funding formula that could affect districts like Little Silver. A5221 would calculate special education funding using a district's actual number of students receiving special education services, rather than a statewide average, and would continue additional State aid for districts with unusually high-cost special education placements.  It would also change how a community's ability to fund its schools is calculated by using a three-year average of property values and income when determining the local share.  Importantly, the bill would provide districts with earlier State-aid estimates and make the State's funding calculations more transparent. Little Silver is monitoring this legislation because changes to these calculations can affect both State aid and the amount a district is expected to raise locally.