Administrator Says Increased Manchester School Aid 'Unexpected'

The long-awaited 2012 state aid numbers that will determine the scope of school district budgets statewide have been released by the Department of Education, showing that Manchester schools will receive $453,145 more in state funding than they did for 2010-11.

In his Tuesday, Christie announced his plan to increase funding for districts by $250 million in 2012, welcome news to districts fearing the trend of big cuts would continue.

Ocean County districts will receive about 5 percent of that increased aid, according to the data released today.

Manchester Schools Business Administrator Craig Lorentzen said his district's increase was "unexpected."

"Once we heard aid was going to be increased to school districts in the governor's address, our thoughts were we would remain at flat funding or receive a slight increase," he said in an e-mail.

"While this increase will help in our decision making process, we still have a long way to go to get to cap," he said, referring to state legislation that caps property tax increases at 2 percent. "There are still cuts that have to be made. After the loss of $2.3 million in state aid last year, we are still trying to climb out of a huge hole."

Lorentzen said that last year's loss of aid forced administrators to "make some very difficult decisions," including eliminating 23 staff positions and reducing extra-curricular activities. 

He said that this year, even with the increased aid, the budget creation process will remain difficult. 

"As we close in on the deadline to submit this budget, there are still tough decisions that need to be made," he said. "Everything is still on the table. We are doing everything we can to minimize staff and program reductions but nothing is guaranteed at this point." 

The board will hold a special meeting for tentative budget approval on March 3, 6 p.m. at Ridgeway Elementary.

In a prepared release on Wednesday, Christie said that "last year, our state faced severe fiscal challenges, and we had to make some very difficult choices. Reductions to education funding were among the most agonizing of those choices. Because of the foundation we set in last year's budget, and our responsible management of the state's finances, New Jersey is on firmer footing and we are able to put more funding into classrooms throughout New Jersey.

However, more money on its own will not fix our education system. We must continue to vigorously pursue education reforms to fundamentally change public education, focused on achieving results for children, rewarding excellence in the classroom and demanding accountability throughout the system."

Below is the projected state aid and a comparison of last year's aid for the Manchester Township School District:

Lakehurst will receive an increase of $84, 379, bringing its total aid for 2012 to $5.8 million, according to state data