Montville's School District to Receive $1.3M in State Aid

Montville Township's schools will receive an additional $638,716 in state aid this year, on top of the originally proposed $669,983 from the 2011-2012 state budget. The increase totals at $1,308,699, which, according to the New Jersey Department of Education's revised state school aid chart, will be applied to special education in the district.

During the 2010-2011 school year, the Montville Township school district received $31,267 in state aid. 

The increase in aid came as part of an $850-million allocation plan for the 2012 fiscal year budget that was announced by Gov. Chris Christie’s administration on Tuesday. The total is made up of three different parts: an initial $250 million that was initially authorized in increased school aid, an additional $150 million for non-Abbott districts, and $450 million to Abbott districts, which is slightly more than half of the total aid.

That $450 million is being distributed amongst 31 districts. That additional funding, according to a release by the Christie administration, fully funds the Abbott districts under the School Funding Reform Act formula.

“This year, New Jersey increased state aid to school districts by $850 million over last year, restoring every dollar of the cuts we were forced to make last year and increasing aid by an additional $30 million,” Christie said in the release.

The aid comes more than a year after the administration made aid cuts to all districts, which were announced on St. Patrick’s Day 2010. In many cases, the additional aid announced on Tuesday doubled the amount that was initially designated for non-Abbott districts.

Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried and Board of Education President Dr. Karen Cortellino were not immediately available to comment on the increase on Tuesday afternoon.