Renewed Push On Plan That May Eliminate Many NJ School Districts – Barnegat-Manahawkin, NJ Patch

NEW JERSEY — The state’s top lawmaker has renewed his push that could ultimately lead to the elimination of hundreds of New Jersey school districts.

Senate President Steve Sweeney is once again pushing his plan that he says will fix New Jersey’s fiscal crisis, restore the stability of the pension system and save tens of billions of dollars for taxpayers.

“It is also the time to promote and explore countywide and K-12 regionalization for the schools in our state,” Sweeney said on Twitter this weekend. “This alone will save local taxpayers millions of dollars on an annual basis and promote better educational opportunities for students in New Jersey.”

Sweeney noted that New Jersey lawmakers have introduced legislation to “work with school districts and counties in the state to form and implement county-wide school districts.”

“Doing so will provide additional savings and give children access to better educational opportunities,” he said.

Sweeney made his remarks days after he agreed to pass a millionaire’s tax – a longtime legislative prize for Gov. Phil Murphy – as well as tax rebates and other reforms in the state’s budget.

State lawmakers – with strong Republican opposition – are expected to pass a new budget this week that addresses the financial crisis and health care nightmares that have impacted New Jersey amid the coronavirus crisis. Read more: Here’s How New NJ Budget, Taxes Will Impact You

It’s not clear where Murphy stands on this regionalization issue, but the governor last year did set aside $10 million for New Jersey communities to help promote shared services. About $2 million of that was earmarked to study K-12 consolidation, something that Senate President Sweeney has championed as part of his “Path to Progress” agenda. Read more: Big Move On Plan To Eliminate Nearly 300 NJ School Districts

Salem County officials also said they’re spending $17,500 to study consolidating their districts into a countywide system. Freeholder Director Benjamin Laury told Patch that the move “doesn’t mean we’re going to do it. We’re just looking at it.”

Sweeney has pushed 27 bills that he’s been looking to put on the legislative agenda, lawmakers say, and they could come up for a vote soon.

As part of his drive to consolidate and save taxpayers money, Sweney’s “Path to Progress” plan could ultimately wipe out nearly 300 school districts. The bills also would create a pilot program testing the viability of countywide school districts (see list of school districts and below).

Sweeney “Path to Progress” package was drawn up by himself and 26 analysts and so-called experts, and he told a panel at the Atlantic City Convention Center last year that he wants action on the plan because “New Jersey faces a dangerous reality.”

“The goal is to eliminate the administration, put a principal in the school, get rid of the school district, leave a principal, let the regional high school become a K-12 district,” Sweeney said. “You go from 600 districts to 320.”

Those recommendations included in the “Path to Progress” include:

Merge all K-4, K-5, K-6, K-8, and K-9 school districts into K-12 regional districts to improve the quality of education and promote efficiency.
Install high-occupancy toll lanes (or HOT lane) on I-80, I-295, I-287, among others.
Allow the establishment of two countywide school district pilot programs.
Explore the viability of transferring major assets such as the New Jersey Turnpike system to the state pension system to lower the unfunded liability and generate new revenue streams for the pension system.
Create a Property Tax Assessment Study Commission to study the state’s tax assessment practices and make recommendations for countywide or regional tax assessment to ensure consistency and efficiency.

The effort started in early 2018. Then, the state Legislature created an Economic and Fiscal Policy Workgroup as a way to identify ways to address soaring pension and health benefits costs, hold down property taxes, make state and local government and school districts more efficient, assess the equity and efficiency of our state and local tax structure, leverage the value of state assets, and mitigate the negative impact of the federal tax law that targeted high cost states, Sweeney said.

Sweeney said he has long fought for shared services as an effective means of making government more efficient and providing taxpayer savings.

“K-12 regionalization, countywide school district pilots and shared services programs are a cornerstone of our Path to Progress plan to promote efficiency and lower property taxes,” Sweeney has said.

Sweeney said reducing New Jersey’s highest-in-the-nation property taxes needs to be a top priority to improve economic competitiveness, attract jobs and make the state affordable.

“School regionalization and countywide school districts will enable us to expand curriculum and educational opportunities, while holding down the school property taxes that make up more than half of the property tax bill statewide,” Sweeney said. “We have been meeting with leaders throughout the state from Sussex to Salem counties who are eager to make this a reality.”

Sweeney acknowledged his school consolidation plan would be unpopular, but he also believes that it could provide the state an additional $1 billion.

“That’s not a bad idea,” he added. “You’ll save probably close to about a billion dollars.”

If the school districts were to be consolidated, here are the K-6 and K-8 that would be merged/eliminated:

Absecon City, Atlantic
Brigantine City, Atlantic
Egg Harbor City, Atlantic
Estell Manor City, Atlantic
Folsom Boro, Atlantic
Galloway Twp, Atlantic
Hamilton Twp, Atlantic
Linwood City, Atlantic
Margate City, Atlantic
Mullica Twp, Atlantic
Northfield City, Atlantic
Port Republic City, Atlantic
Somers Point City, Atlantic
Ventnor City, Atlantic
Weymouth Twp, Atlantic
Allendale Boro, Bergen
Alpine Boro, Bergen
Carlstadt Boro, Bergen
Closter Boro, Bergen
Demarest Boro, Bergen
East Rutherford Boro, Bergen
Edgewater Boro, Bergen
Englewood Cliffs Boro, Bergen
Fairview Boro, Bergen
Franklin Lakes Boro, Bergen
Harrington Park Boro, Bergen
Haworth Boro, Bergen
Hillsdale Boro, Bergen
Ho Ho Kus Boro, Bergen
Little Ferry Boro, Bergen
Maywood Boro, Bergen
Montvale Boro, Bergen
Moonachie Boro, Bergen
Northvale Boro, Bergen
Norwood Boro, Bergen
Oakland Boro, Bergen
Old Tappan Boro, Bergen
Oradell Boro, Bergen
River Edge Boro, Bergen
River Vale Twp, Bergen
Rochelle Park Twp, Bergen
Saddle River Boro, Bergen
South Hackensack Twp, Bergen
Upper Saddle River Boro, Bergen
Woodcliff Lake Boro, Bergen
Wyckoff Twp, Bergen
Bass River Twp, Burlington
Beverly City, Burlington
Chesterfield Twp, Burlington
Delanco Twp, Burlington
Eastampton Twp, Burlington
Edgewater Park Twp, Burlington
Evesham Twp, Burlington
Hainesport Twp, Burlington
Lumberton Twp, Burlington
Mansfield Twp, Burlington
Medford Lakes Boro, Burlington
Medford Twp, Burlington
Mount Holly Twp, Burlington
Mount Laurel Twp, Burlington
New Hanover Twp, Burlington
North Hanover Twp, Burlington
Riverton, Burlington
Shamong Twp, Burlington
Southampton Twp, Burlington
Springfield Twp, Burlington
Tabernacle Twp, Burlington
Westampton, Burlington
Woodland Twp, Burlington
Barrington Boro, Camden
Bellmawr Boro, Camden
Berlin Boro, Camden
Berlin Twp, Camden
Brooklawn Boro, Camden
Clementon Boro, Camden
Gibbsboro Boro, Camden
Gloucester Twp, Camden
Laurel Springs Boro, Camden
Lawnside Boro, Camden
Magnolia Boro, Camden
Merchantville Boro, Camden
Mount Ephraim Boro, Camden
Runnemede Boro, Camden
Somerdale Boro, Camden
Stratford Boro, Camden
Oaklyn, Camden
Voorhees Twp, Camden
Waterford Twp, Camden
Woodlynne Boro, Camden
Avalon Boro, Cape May
Cape May City, Cape May
Dennis Twp, Cape May
Lower Twp, Cape May
North Wildwood City, Cape May
Stone Harbor Boro, Cape May
Upper Twp, Cape May
West Cape May Boro, Cape May
Wildwood Crest Boro, Cape May
Woodbine Boro, Cape May
Commercial Twp, Cumberland
Deerfield Twp, Cumberland
Downe Twp, Cumberland
Fairfield Twp, Cumberland
Greenwich Twp, Cumberland
Hopewell Twp, Cumberland
Lawrence Twp, Cumberland
Maurice River Twp, Cumberland
Stow Creek Twp, Cumberland
Upper Deerfield Twp, Cumberland
Essex Fells Boro, Essex
Fairfield Twp, Essex
North Caldwell Boro, Essex
Roseland Boro, Essex
East Greenwich Twp, Gloucester
Elk Twp, Gloucester
Franklin Twp, Gloucester
Greenwich Twp, Gloucester
Harrison Twp, Gloucester
Logan Twp, Gloucester
Mantua Twp, Gloucester
National Park Boro, Gloucester
South Harrison Twp, Gloucester
Swedesboro-Woolwich, Gloucester
Wenonah Boro, Gloucester
Westville Boro, Gloucester
Woodbury Heights Boro, Gloucester
East Newark Boro, Hudson
Guttenberg Town, Hudson
Alexandria Twp, Hunterdon
Bethlehem Twp, Hunterdon
Bloomsbury Boro, Hunterdon
Califon Boro, Hunterdon
Clinton Twp, Hunterdon
Clinton-Glen Gardner, Hunterdon
Delaware Twp, Hunterdon
East Amwell Twp, Hunterdon
Flemington-Raritan Reg, Hunterdon
Franklin Twp, Hunterdon
Frenchtown Boro, Hunterdon
Hampton Boro, Hunterdon
High Bridge Boro, Hunterdon
Holland Twp, Hunterdon
Kingwood Twp, Hunterdon
Lebanon Boro, Hunterdon
Lebanon Twp, Hunterdon
Milford Boro, Hunterdon
Readington Twp, Hunterdon
Tewksbury Twp, Hunterdon
Union Twp, Hunterdon
Cranbury Twp, Middlesex
Jamesburg Boro, Middlesex
Milltown Boro, Middlesex
Atlantic Highlands Boro, Monmouth
Avon Boro, Monmouth
Belmar Boro, Monmouth
Bradley Beach Boro, Monmouth
Brielle Boro, Monmouth
Colts Neck Twp, Monmouth
Deal Boro, Monmouth
Eatontown Boro, Monmouth
Fair Haven Boro, Monmouth
Farmingdale Boro, Monmouth
Freehold Boro, Monmouth
Freehold Twp, Monmouth
Highlands Boro, Monmouth
Howell Twp, Monmouth
Little Silver Boro, Monmouth
Manalapan-Englishtown Reg, Monmouth
Marlboro Twp, Monmouth
Millstone Twp, Monmouth
Monmouth Beach Boro, Monmouth
Neptune City, Monmouth
Oceanport Boro, Monmouth
Red Bank Boro, Monmouth
Roosevelt Boro, Monmouth
Rumson Boro, Monmouth
Sea Girt Boro, Monmouth
Shrewsbury Boro, Monmouth
Spring Lake Boro, Monmouth
Spring Lake Heights Boro, Monmouth
Tinton Falls, Monmouth
Union Beach, Monmouth
West Long Branch Boro, Monmouth
Boonton Twp, Morris
Chester Twp, Morris
Denville Twp, Morris
East Hanover Twp, Morris
Florham Park Boro, Morris
Hanover Twp, Morris
Harding Township, Morris
Lincoln Park Boro, Morris
Long Hill Twp, Morris
Mendham Boro, Morris
Mendham Twp, Morris
Mine Hill Twp, Morris
Morris Plains Boro, Morris
Mount Arlington Boro, Morris
Netcong Boro, Morris
Riverdale Boro, Morris
Rockaway Boro, Morris
Rockaway Twp, Morris
Washington Twp, Morris
Wharton Boro, Morris
Bay Head Boro, Ocean
Beach Haven Boro, Ocean
Berkeley Twp, Ocean
Eagleswood Twp, Ocean
Island Heights Boro, Ocean
Lakehurst Boro, Ocean
Lavallette Boro, Ocean
Little Egg Harbor Twp, Ocean
Long Beach Island, Ocean
Ocean Gate Boro, Ocean
Ocean Twp, Ocean
Seaside Heights Boro, Ocean
Stafford Twp, Ocean
Tuckerton Boro, Ocean
Bloomingdale Boro, Passaic
Haledon Boro, Passaic
Little Falls Twp, Passaic
North Haledon Boro, Passaic
Prospect Park Boro, Passaic
Ringwood Boro, Passaic
Totowa Boro, Passaic
Wanaque Boro, Passaic
Woodland Park, Passaic
Alloway Twp, Salem
Elsinboro Twp, Salem
Lower Alloways Creek, Salem
Mannington Twp, Salem
Oldmans Twp, Salem
Quinton Twp, Salem
Upper Pittsgrove Twp, Salem
Bedminster Twp, Somerset
Branchburg Twp, Somerset
Green Brook Twp, Somerset
South Bound Brook, Somerset
Warren Twp, Somerset
Watchung Boro, Somerset
Andover Reg, Sussex
Byram Twp, Sussex
Frankford Twp, Sussex
Franklin Boro, Sussex
Fredon Twp, Sussex
Green Twp, Sussex
Hamburg Boro, Sussex
Hampton Twp, Sussex
Hardyston Twp, Sussex
Lafayette Twp, Sussex
Montague Twp, Sussex
Ogdensburg Boro, Sussex
Sandyston-Walpack Twp, Sussex
Stanhope Boro, Sussex
Stillwater Twp, Sussex
Sussex-Wantage Regional, Sussex
Garwood Boro, Union
Mountainside Boro, Union
Winfield Twp, Union
Allamuchy Twp, Warren
Alpha Boro, Warren
Blairstown Twp, Warren
Franklin Twp, Warren
Frelinghuysen Twp, Warren
Great Meadows Regional, Warren
Greenwich Twp, Warren
Harmony Twp, Warren
Hope Twp, Warren
Knowlton Twp, Warren
Lopatcong Twp, Warren
Mansfield Twp, Warren
Oxford Twp, Warren
Pohatcong Twp, Warren
Washington Boro, Warren
Washington Twp, Warren
White Twp, Warren