HILLSBOROUGH, NJ – New Jersey delivered a payment of $1M to the budget-strapped school district earlier this week.
When it comes to state aid for education, the township school district has been getting a smaller slice of the pie the past several years which impacts the budget process and local taxes.
Several years ago state lawmakers devised a formula to achieve parity among all New Jersey school districts, which meant some wealthier school districts in the state would take a hit.
Lawmakers from the 16th District, which includes Hillsborough, lobbied successfully to make up for a $1.4M cut made to the district’s 2022-23 budget.
Hillsborough received $21.5 million in state aid for 2022-23, down from $22.9 million in the 2021-22 school year, a 6.12 percent decrease.
Hillsborough was only one of two school districts in Somerset County to receive a reduced amount of state aid.
State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, Assemblyman Roy Freiman and Assemblywoman Sadaf Jaffer presented the ceremonial check to school officials at the August Board of Education meeting.
Participating in the check presentation were Christina Smith, vice president of the Hillsborough Education Association; Amy Salinger, treasurer of the HEA; Acting Superintendent Kim Feltres, Paul Marini president of the Hillsborough Board of Education and the three elected lawmakers.
“I’m proud that working with the Board, the Superintendent, and the local union, we could
provide extra funding to support the needs of Hillsborough’s students. This funding will support
much-needed infrastructure improvements necessary to provide an environment that assists
Hillsborough’s outstanding teachers and support personnel to continue offering one of the
finest educations in New Jersey,” Zwicker said.”
“As someone who has put my children through the Hillsborough education system, I’m proud of
the high quality of education offered here and one of my jobs as a state legislator is to fight for the needs of the community. I’m proud we were able to accomplish that with this budget win,”
Freiman said.
“I’m so grateful to the talented educators and administrative staff who work hard to make
Hillsborough a top-level school district. Along with this funding and voting for the school sales
tax holiday, I’m glad our team can have a hand in helping parents and students,” Jaffer added.