Board approves tentative 2025–26 budget; expands preschool as state aid falls

Robbinsville Board of Education on March 25 approved a tentative 2025–26 budget that maintains current services, expands preschool capacity and relies on a health-care adjustment and preschool aid to close a multi-million-dollar gap caused by lower state aid and rising insurance and contractual costs.

Board and district leaders said the plan expands the district's preschool program from 14 to 18 classrooms, offsets roughly $750,000 in operating costs by charging preschool its share of fixed building costs and uses a health-benefit adjustment that administrators said makes the budget workable for next year. The presentation projected a fully loaded tax impact of about 5.45 percent on typical property tax bills; the administration said the average homeowner would pay about $377 more next year under the fully loaded scenario presented to the public.

Why it matters: The budget responds to an administration estimate of repeated state aid cuts and unusually high health-insurance increases this year. District officials called the proposal a preservation-first budget that would protect programs while shifting staffing and other expenses where enrollment has…