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Freehold Township School District presents 2026-27 tentative budget with staffing cuts, class-size increases and a projected health-insurance spike
Summary
Administrators told the board the draft 2026-27 budget faces roughly a $1.5 million shortfall driven largely by a projected 20% rise in health-insurance costs; to close the gap the district proposes cutting six teaching positions (headcount), eliminating one instructional coach, increasing elementary class-size maximums by one student and adding nine part-time TAs tied to IEP needs. (Final state aid and the governor's budget next week could change the plan.)
Administrators presented the first look at the district's 2026-27 budget, telling the board the plan is balanced only because it includes $3.3 million in additional tax-levy capacity and several expenditure reductions to offset sharp health-insurance increases.
School business administrator Robert David told the board the draft relies on an added levy "of $3,300,000 on top of about a $1,500,000 increase from the 2%" and said the district is "projecting an increase of 20% in health care." He added that the district had been running a deficit earlier in the process and had removed roughly $450,000 in nonmandated spending to reduce the gap.
Why it matters: officials said the health-insurance and special-education funding pressures translate to direct choices about personnel and programs. The administration proposed head-count reductions that include eliminating one instructional coach and six teacher positions (the administration emphasized those are "positions, not humans" and said…
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