District Mulls Where To Spend State Aid Bump

Wall Township school received an unexpected windfall from Trenton this week when its state aid money was doubled as part of a state-wide increase to school districts.

Wall schools’ share of the $600 million bump to school budgets doubles the aid the district had already banked for the 2011-2012 school year.

The district will receive an additional $600,516 in state aid on top of the , bringing Wall’s total state aid figure to $3,178,023. That’s $1,201,032 more in aid than last year, according to figures released by Gov. Chris Christie’s office this week.

“I think it’s great that our aid has been increased,’’ said Brian Smyth, district business administrator. “There are plenty of areas to allocate these funds.’’

Smyth said the district was waiting on instruction from the county Superintendent on how they can spend the money, since it has come in well after the district’s budget has been completed.

The money could go to tax relief next year, or could go towards capital improvements or any number of areas, Smyth said.

That decision however, once direction is given from the county, would be up to the Board of Education, he said.

Tuesday's announcement of an additional $467,533 will bring the total amount of aid for the 2011-12 school year to $19,697,121, up from the originally expected $19,229,588. That means state aid for the coming school year is almost $1 million more than 2010-2011's $18,762,054.

“Now is the time to complement the dollars spent with real education reform to bring a focus on student learning, accountability and results,” Christie said in a statement.

The announcement brings the total increase in aid promised to New Jersey districts for the coming school year to $850 million, up from a $250 million increase promised in February. Christie said that the increase restores "every dollar" of the cuts the state made last year and increases aid by an additional $30 million.

Out of the $600 million boost announced Tuesday, $450 million will go to Abbott districts and $150 million to non-Abbott districts, Christie said.