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Jackson Township School District presents tentative $160.7M budget after state‑aid cut
Summary
The Jackson Township School District presented a tentative $160,734,000 2026–27 budget that the district says is essentially flat (0.07% increase) but reflects a 3% categorical state‑aid cut and leaves the district tens of millions below the state's adequacy target; the plan would raise local taxes about $305 a year on the average assessed property, officials said.
At the March board meeting, the Jackson Township School District presented a tentative 2026–27 budget totaling $160,734,000 that the administration described as balanced and largely flat year‑over‑year but constrained by reductions in state aid.
“Negative 3% is the maximum cut the state said nobody should have to do more than that the last few years,” the presenter introduced by the superintendent said, summarizing the district’s state aid notice and its effect on the budget. He told the board the district’s categorical state aid fell by about $680,000 and that longstanding cuts have produced a cumulative shortfall compared with the state’s adequacy calculation.
Why it matters: the presenter said the district remains well below the state’s adequacy target, citing a $1.1 million shortfall in 2022–23 and a projection that the district is about $29.65 million below what the state calculates would be “adequate” funding for next year. That gap, he said, is driven by a combination of reduced state aid and long‑term enrollment and demographic changes.
Key details: the presentation included a decade of enrollment data (public K–12 enrollment down roughly 22.5% to 6,345 students while nonpublic enrollment has grown dramatically), projected expense categories, and revenue sources. The administration identified major cost drivers — salaries (a projected increase of $740,000), rising health‑benefit costs, school and capital needs such as HVAC, and out‑of‑district special‑education placements. The district projects about 50 out‑of‑district placements next year at an average annual tuition of roughly $149,000 per placement.
On revenue, the budget relies on federal and state grants (the presentation listed about $14.3 million in grant funding), nonpublic transportation aid and the local tax levy. The presenter said the general fund tax levy would total roughly $116 million, with the debt‑service levy at about $7.7 million; together the levies would raise local revenue by about $9.2 million next year. For the district’s reported average assessed home value of $654,839, the presenter said that would mean about $305 more a year — about $25.42 per month — for that representative property.
Board reaction and questions: board members pressed for clarifications on the state aid and adequacy calculations, how out‑of‑district placements factor into aid formulas, and which grant lines are guaranteed versus estimated. The presenter acknowledged some grant figures are budgeted conservatively (for example, budgeting 75% of Title allocations based on current guidance) and that certain categorical pots, like extraordinary special‑education aid, depend on state allocations and may change.
What’s next: the budget presented is tentative and the board opened the floor to questions. Further hearings and formal adoption steps will follow the public‑presentation period required under state law.
