Ocean Township projects multimillion-dollar 2027 deficit; board reviews capital asks, waiver options and calendar
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Summary
District officials told the board the preliminary 2027 outlook shows an estimated $5.6 million operating deficit under current assumptions, reviewed capital and technology requests and discussed options including a medical waiver, reserves use and bus leasing; the board approved routine minutes, personnel and finance items and a proposed calendar with one abstention on a calendar subitem.
The Township of Ocean School District administration presented a 2027 budget outlook at the board meeting and outlined capital, personnel and technology requests while answering board questions about state funding, special-education reimbursement and contingency options.
The school business administrator told the board estimated district revenue for 2027 is $89,800,000 and that a baseline expenditure projection (excluding additional personnel, technology and capital asks) was approximately $94,960,000. Including personnel and technology requests would push expenditures to roughly $95.5 million and create an estimated gap of $5,600,000. Administration said a potential medical waiver could represent about $4,700,000 in mitigation but that even with a large waiver there could remain a roughly $912,000 shortfall in one example the administration gave.
On capital projects, administrators presented a slide saying capital requests on the list were "approximately $56,000,000" and separately reviewed priority items that the administration said total near $2,300,000 in prioritized asks and nearly $3,000,000 in additional asks. Administration explained some large projects previously listed (for example, replacing 37 unit ventilators in a fifth-grade wing estimated at about $5,000,000) are being reworked into phased approaches to reduce immediate capital-reserve strain; for example, replacing the worst units in smaller groups would cost roughly $762,000 for approximately six units.
To manage bus replacements the administration proposed financing through leasing to avoid a single-year $650,000–$675,000 cash hit; the five 29-passenger buses were noted among the transportation asks. Staff reported the district has roughly $8 million in capital reserve and about $2.5 million in maintenance reserve and said some capital work could be paid from those reserves while other items would require alternative funding.
Board members who attended a recent state school finance session said no clear remedies were presented at that session and suggested exploring shared-services, health-benefit shopping and careful use of the medical-waiver tool. The administration said it is working with its broker to obtain medical-experience data that could inform future years, but any changes would likely affect budgets beyond 2027.
During the meeting the board approved several routine items by roll-call vote: minutes from the Jan. 27 regular and executive session (motion moved by Miss McGovern; Mr. Schneider recorded an abstention), personnel items 8.1–8.7 (approved with one abstention recorded as Mr. Schneider on mute), financial items 9.1–9.6 (approved on roll-call) and instructional items 10.1–10.4 (approved with an abstention noted on item 10.2 by Miss Gilman). The board also heard a first reading of revised policies including harassment, public-complaints procedures and a student sun-protection policy; the policies will return for a second reading at a future meeting.
Administration emphasized there are no immediate, guaranteed fixes from the state; board members urged continued exploration of shared services, insurance-shopping and careful prioritization of capital projects. The district will continue to refine its 2027 budget and present updated assumptions and options at upcoming meetings.
Votes at a glance - Approval of minutes (01/27/2026): Motion moved by Miss McGovern; roll-call passed with Mr. Schneider abstaining; outcome: approved. - Personnel items 8.1–8.7: Moved by Miss McGovern, seconded; Mr. Schneider recorded an abstention (on mute); outcome: approved. - Financial items 9.1–9.6: Moved by Mr. McCarthy; outcome: approved by roll-call. - Instruction items 10.1–10.4 (calendar items): Moved by speaker 13; outcome: approved with Miss Gilman abstaining from item 10.2.
Next steps include further analysis of Form C assessment data for instructional initiatives, continued budget scenario refinement and follow-up reporting on grants and capital prioritization.