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Glen Ridge board hears governor's budget proposal; state aid figures to arrive Thursday
Summary
Board president briefed the Glen Ridge Public School District on the governor's FY26 budget proposal, possible district aid cuts up to 3%, and a change to how special-education aid is calculated; the district will receive its specific state aid figures on Thursday.
The Glen Ridge Public School District board heard a budget update during the public portion of its meeting, including highlights from the governor's FY26 budget proposal and what it could mean for district funding.
Board President said the governor outlined an education-focused proposal that "fully funds the formula" and included investments in prekindergarten expansion and an allocation described in the proposal as $3,000,000 for "cell phone bands," intended to help schools buy technology such as cell-phone pockets. The president added that the acting commissioner told districts last week that state aid cuts could be as much as 3% but no more than that.
The board was told the district will receive its official state aid figures on Thursday, which Business Administrator Barbara Murphy will use to shape the preliminary budget. "The governor proposes, the legislature disposes," the Board President said, noting the Legislature may alter the proposal before the June 30 deadline.
Board members were also briefed on a planned change to the state's calculation of special-education aid. Historically the state has applied an assumed statewide rate (cited in the meeting as about 14.7%) to allocate special-education aid. Under the proposed change, the state would use each district's actual special-education counts instead of the assumed percentage. The president said that change could help Glen Ridge because the district's special-education percentage is higher than the statewide assumption.
No formal budget votes were taken at the meeting. The administration will incorporate the forthcoming state aid figures into a tentative instructional and operational budget to be presented to the board at a future meeting and moved toward a public hearing and final adoption on April 29.
The presentation flagged both potential positive and uncertain elements: increased formula funding and targeted investments, alongside an acknowledged possibility of up to 3% aid reductions depending on state and federal developments.
