Toms River Schools To Join Brick In Lawsuit Over State Aid

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Regional Board of Education is preparing to join a lawsuit being filed against the New Jersey Department of Education over the state aid cuts that threaten to decimate a number of school districts in the state.

The board, which is scheduled to meet Wednesday at Toms River High School North on Old Freehold Road, will be asked to vote on a resolution to join a lawsuit being filed by the Weiner Law Group of Parsippany that aims to challenge the funding distribution on behalf of schools that are seeing siginficant aid cuts.

Brick Township's school board approved a similar resolution last week. Mark Tabakin of Weiner Law Group said in a presentation at the Brick meeting that there were four districts committed to the lawsuit at that time but he did not name them because others were still finalizing resolutions. He said he additionally has been contacted by other districts about joining the effort.

The state budget deal struck in July included funding under provisions of S2, the Steve Sweeney-propelled law that strips so-called adjustment aid from districts across the state. The cuts being spread over seven years, Sweeney said, are justified on the basis of declining enrollment the affected schools. The law also mandates that districts that are "under adequacy" — meaning they are spending less than what the state has determined is necessary for a thorough and efficient education — must increase their property tax levy by 2 percent per year, which Sweeney contends will force taxpayers in the affected districts to pay what he believes is their fair share of the property tax burden.

Toms River schools stand to lose a cumulative $70 million in aid if S2 is fully implemented.

Tabakin, in his presentation in Brick, said the lawsuit isn't about recovering funding already taken away.

"It's fruitless to fight over funding decisions after the budget is struck," he said. "The fight is with the Department of Education," which has the final say on how funding is allocated.

Tabakin said the lawsuit will challenge the distribution of funding on three points: First, that the state constititution requires an equal benefit for everyone with regard to education, and the funding formula is "fatally deficient" in achieving that. Second, the requirement for the 2 percent tax levy increase imposes "an arbitrary and unreasonable" burden on taxpayers, denying them due process, and third, that the Department of Education is violating the law of the School Funding Reform Act by determining how much aid it will give and leaving taxpayers to foot the rest instead of looking at how much aid is needed to achieve adequacy.

"The commissioner has created an arbitrary and capricious distribution of funds," he said. The impact of that distribution change — Toms River district officials have said hundreds of staff members could be laid off next year, under a scheduled $5 million cut in aid, and in Brick, there were paraprofessional positions cut across the district this year amid its $1.9 million cut — and how it harms both students and taxpayers is the basis for claiming damage under the lawsuit.

The actual lawsuit was expected to be filed early in 2019. Weiner Law Group is experienced in education funding lawsuits, having successfully brought suit on behalf of the Abbott districts in the past.

Each participating district will be sharing in the costs of the lawsuit because for most districts, the main issues are the same. Toms River is planning to commit $5,000 in the initial phase. Brick's board approved $10,000 for the first piece. It's not known how many districts ultimately will join the lawsuit but the more who participate, the lower the overall cost for each will be, Tabakin said.

"The school funding formula is a mess and it's been a mess for a very long time," Tabakin said. "This (lawsuit) isn't about undoing what has already happen. This is to stop the pain now."

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