275 school districts in NJ could soon be consolidated (we’ve got the list) – ROI-NJ.com

In what surely will be a huge test in both challenging “home rule” and implementing many of the consolidation aspects of State Senate President Steve Sweeney’s “Path to Progress” reforms, the Senate Education Committee approved legislation this week that would consolidate all K-4, K-5, K-6, K-8 and K-9 districts into K-12 or countywide districts.

The move would impact 275 districts.

To be clear: The bill still has a way to go.

The bill, S3488, has been sent to the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, which would have to approve and send it to the full Senate. Should it be approved there, it will need to be passed in the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy.

Sweeney has long pushed for consolidation of school districts, arguing first and foremost that it will improve education in the state by ensuring all students who will eventually be in the same high school will follow the same path to get there.

The bill, however, represents more than that.

New Jersey — in what is a stunning statistic to everyone who hears it — actually has more school districts (584) than municipalities (565). Many feel this is the poster child for home rule. And many feel home rule is a leading factor in high property taxes.

The bipartisan bill has some of the most powerful and influential members of the Senate behind it. In addition to Sweeney (D-West Deptford), it is co-sponsored by Sens. Vin Gopal (D-Ocean Twp.), Declan O’Scanlon (R-Holmdel) and Troy Singleton (D-Moorestown).

“This will be the first major overhaul of New Jersey’s school regionalization statute in over 25 years,” Sweeney said. “It is designed to improve the quality of education by ensuring coordination of curriculum from K to 12, provide the enriched educational experience that smaller districts cannot offer, and generate long-term savings that can be used to hold down property taxes or reinvest in expanded educational programs.”

Sweeney said it helps with education — and saves money — especially for the smaller districts.

“Regionalization is particularly important for small districts with declining enrollments that are having an increasingly hard time providing a quality educational experience and making their budgets work,” he said.

“One-school districts with fewer than 500 students spend 17% more per pupil than the 60% of New Jersey districts with 1,000 or more students, and those include the large urban districts and comprehensive K-12 districts that are supposed to spend more under the state formula. Regionalization makes sense.”

The legislation does the following:

Establishes criteria for state-funded regionalization studies;
Increases flexibility on regionalization cost apportionment;
Bars any regionalization that would have a segregative effect;
Protects accrued tenure and seniority;
Provides significant financial incentives for districts losing state aid because of declining enrollment to regionalize by extending the schedule for their Adjustment Aid cuts from four years to eight years.

Salem County is currently exploring the possibility of creating New Jersey’s first countywide school district with a state-funded Local Efficiency Achievement Program grant, and both Pinelands Regional in Ocean and Burlington counties and Roosevelt in Monmouth County are using LEAP grants for K-12 regionalization studies.

The new legislation provides for an expedited preliminary approval process to enable districts losing Adjustment Aid to readjust their 2021-2022 school budgets to factor in the increased state aid they would receive for participating in regionalization studies in the first year.

Gopal said the legislation takes into account a number of factors.

“Our legislation removes significant barriers to regionalization, including a statutory provision to recalculate state aid that would have made it more costly for some districts to regionalize than to remain separate,” he said. “Furthermore, it extends the timeline for Adjustment Aid cuts from four years to eight years for districts that regionalize. Most importantly, it is a voluntary process that provides local districts with greater flexibility to design a regionalization phase-in that makes sense for all.”

Sweeney said the legislation incorporates recommendations made by all of the major statewide educational organizations, by the Governor’s Shared Services czars Nic Platt and Jordan Glatt, by the Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup’s Education Task Force co-chaired by Rutgers University professor Ray Caprio and former Education Commissioner Lucille Davy, and by school board members, administrators, teachers, parents and local government officials he met with throughout the state.

Here’s a county-by-county list of the school districts that would be impacted:

Atlantic (15)

Absecon City
Brigantine City
Egg Harbor City
Estell Manor City
Folsom Borough
Galloway Township
Hamilton Township
Linwood City
Margate City
Mullica Township
Northfield City
Port Republic City
Somers Point City
Ventnor City
Weymouth Township

Bergen (31)

Allendale Borough
Alpine Borough
Carlstadt Borough
Closter Borough
Demarest Borough
East Rutherford Borough
Edgewater Borough
Englewood Cliffs Borough
Fairview Borough
Franklin Lakes Borough
Harrington Park Borough
Haworth Borough
Hillsdale Borough
Ho Ho Kus Borough
Little Ferry Borough
Maywood Borough
Montvale Borough
Moonachie Borough
Northvale Borough
Norwood Borough
Oakland Borough
Old Tappan Borough
Oradell Borough
River Edge Borough
River Vale Township
Rochelle Park Township
Saddle River Borough
South Hackensack Township
Upper Saddle River Borough
Woodcliff Lake Borough
Wyckoff Township

Burlington (23)

Bass River Township
Beverly City
Chesterfield Township
Delanco Township
Eastampton Township
Edgewater Park Township
Evesham Township
Hainesport Township
Lumberton Township
Mansfield Township
Medford Lakes Borough
Medford Township
Mount Holly Township
Mount Laurel Township
New Hanover Township
North Hanover Township
Riverton
Shamong Township
Southampton Township
Springfield Township
Tabernacle Township
Westampton
Woodland Township

Camden (20)

Barrington Borough
Bellmawr Borough
Berlin Borough
Berlin Township
Brooklawn Borough
Clementon Borough
Gibbsboro Borough
Gloucester Township
Laurel Springs Borough
Lawnside Borough
Magnolia Borough
Merchantville Borough
Mount Ephraim Borough
Runnemede Borough
Somerdale Borough
Stratford Borough
Oaklyn
Voorhees Township
Waterford Township
Woodlynne Borough

Cape May (10)

Avalon Borough
Cape May City
Dennis Township
Lower Township
North Wildwood City
Stone Harbor Borough
Upper Township
West Cape May Borough
Wildwood Crest Borough
Woodbine Borough

Cumberland (10)

Commercial Township
Deerfield Township
Downe Township
Fairfield Township
Greenwich Township
Hopewell Township
Lawrence Township
Maurice River Township
Stow Creek Township
Upper Deerfield Township

Essex (4)

Essex Fells Borough
Fairfield Township
North Caldwell Borough
Roseland Borough

Gloucester (13)

East Greenwich Township
Elk Township
Franklin Township
Greenwich Township
Harrison Township
Logan Township
Mantua Township
National Park Borough
South Harrison Township
Swedesboro-Woolwich
Wenonah Borough
Westville Borough
Woodbury Heights Borough

Hudson (2)

East Newark Borough
Guttenberg Town

Hunterdon (21)

Alexandria Township
Bethlehem Township
Bloomsbury Borough
Califon Borough
Clinton Township
Clinton-Glen Gardner
Delaware Township
East Amwell Township
Flemington-Raritan Regional
Franklin Township
Frenchtown Borough
Hampton Borough
High Bridge Borough
Holland Township
Kingwood Township
Lebanon Borough
Lebanon Township
Milford Borough
Readington Township
Tewksbury Township
Union Township

Mercer (0)

Middlesex (3)

Cranbury Township
Jamesburg Borough
Milltown Borough

Monmouth (31)

Atlantic Highlands Borough
Avon Borough
Belmar Borough
Bradley Beach Borough
Brielle Borough
Colts Neck Township
Deal Borough
Eatontown Borough
Fair Haven Borough
Farmingdale Borough
Freehold Borough
Freehold Township
Highlands Borough
Howell Township
Little Silver Borough
Manalapan-Englishtown Reg
Marlboro Township
Millstone Township
Monmouth Beach Borough
Neptune City
Oceanport Borough
Red Bank Borough
Roosevelt Borough
Rumson Borough
Sea Girt Borough
Shrewsbury Borough
Spring Lake Borough
Spring Lake Heights Borough
Tinton Falls
Union Beach
West Long Branch Borough

Morris (20)

Boonton Township
Chester Township
Denville Township
East Hanover Township
Florham Park Borough
Hanover Township
Harding Township
Lincoln Park Borough
Long Hill Township
Mendham Borough
Mendham Township
Mine Hill Township
Morris Plains Borough
Mount Arlington Borough
Netcong Borough
Riverdale Borough
Rockaway Borough
Rockaway Township
Washington Township
Wharton Borough

Ocean (14)

Bay Head Borough
Beach Haven Borough
Berkeley Township
Eagleswood Township
Island Heights Borough
Lakehurst Borough
Lavallette Borough
Little Egg Harbor Township
Long Beach Island
Ocean Gate Borough
Ocean Township
Seaside Heights Borough
Stafford Township
Tuckerton Borough

Passaic (9)

Bloomingdale Borough
Haledon Borough
Little Falls Township
North Haledon Borough
Prospect Park Borough
Ringwood Borough
Totowa Borough
Wanaque Borough
Woodland Park

Salem (7)

Alloway Township
Elsinboro Township
Lower Alloways Creek
Mannington Township
Oldmans Township
Quinton Township
Upper Pittsgrove Township

Somerset (6)

Bedminster Township
Branchburg Township
Green Brook Township
South Bound Brook
Warren Township
Watchung Borough

Sussex (16)

Andover Regional
Byram Township
Frankford Township
Franklin Borough
Fredon Township
Green Township
Hamburg Borough
Hampton Township
Hardyston Township
Lafayette Township
Montague Township
Ogdensburg Borough
Sandyston-Walpack Township
Stanhope Borough
Stillwater Township
Sussex-Wantage Regional

Union (3)

Garwood Borough
Mountainside Borough
Winfield Township

Warren (17)

Allamuchy Township
Alpha Borough
Blairstown Township
Franklin Township
Frelinghuysen Township
Great Meadows Regional
Greenwich Township
Harmony Township
Hope Township
Knowlton Township
Lopatcong Township
Mansfield Township
Oxford Township
Pohatcong Township
Washington Borough
Washington Township
White Township