Schools in five New Jersey districts will use state grants to explore the possible benefits of forming regional school districts or consolidating with nearby districts, state officials announced.
The grants, totaling $581,900, are being awarded under a 2022 state law providing financial incentives for school districts to study mergers or consolidation. The money can be used to pay for feasibility studies.
New Jersey, which is home to about 600 school districts, has few regionalized districts compared to many other states. Some have criticized the state for having too many costly local school districts that duplicate services and help drive up property taxes.
The five grants were awarded to:
- Watchung Hills Regional High School, for $135,000.
- Central Regional Board of Education, for $130,000.
- Wallkill Regional Board of Education, for $123,900.
- Holland Township School, for $118,000.
- Logan Township Board of Education, for $75,000.
The money will pay for studies to evaluate enrollment, faculty and administrative staffing, existing relationships with other districts, class size, debt, contractual obligations and diversity, among other factors, according to the state Department of Community Affairs.
Districts accepting the grants are not required to consolidate or make any changes as a result of the findings.
“Regionalization can pave the way for new and expanded courses, extracurricular programs, and enhanced facilities, all while making efficient use of taxpayer dollars,” said Jacquelyn A. Suárez, the state Department of Community Affairs commissioner.
“It’s a concept worth investigating, and we look forward to collaborating with the school districts as they undertake their studies,” Suárez said.
Watchung Hills Regional High School enrolls 1,665 students from Warren Township, Green Brook and Watchung in Somerset County and Long Hill in Morris County.
The district’s study will be conducted over the next year and also include an advisory committee with representatives from all five school boards, along with school administrators and municipal officials, said Watchung Hills Regional School District Superintendent Elizabeth Jewett.
“The study will analyze educational programs for students from preschool through high school within the five districts, including curriculum coordination, special education programming, and transportation costs; provide a demographic analysis of future enrollment for the five districts; forecast state aid based on those enrollment projections, and evaluate future budget challenges,” Jewett said.
“Based on this analysis, the study will provide recommendations for educational enhancements and potential cost savings through various options, ranging from expansion of shared services in specific areas to full PreK-12 regionalization,” Jewett said.
The Wallkill Valley Regional High School District in Sussex County oversees Wallkill Valley Regional High School, which enrolls about 610 students from four K-8 districts in Franklin Borough, Hamburg, Hardyston and Ogdensburg.
Wallkill Valley Regional’s school board is scheduled to discuss hiring a consultant for the review when it meets Tuesday, said David Carr, the district’s superintendent.
“There probably are certain areas where it would make sense for us to work together a little more than we do,” Carr told NJ Advance Media on Thursday.
Several other New Jersey school districts have either recently merged or are considering mergers.
In Monmouth County, the K-6 school districts in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands were dissolved in July. They joined the K-12 Henry Hudson Regional School District, which had previously served middle school and high school students from both municipalities.
The merger was approved by voters in Atlantic Highlands and Highlands in September 2023. It was the first school district merger in New Jersey since 2013, when voters in Hunterdon County approved merging four school districts into the South Hunterdon Regional School District, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association.
There was a different outcome in April, when voters in Seaside Heights rejected a ballot question that would have dissolved the town’s small K-6 grade district by authorizing a merger with the much larger Toms River Regional School District.
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Rob Jennings may be reached at rjennings@njadvancemedia.com.
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