Politics & Government

Montclair School District Fares Well in 2012-13 State Aid Allocation

Board of Education will unveil its budget on Monday evening

 

The waiting game is over. State figures released from Gov. Chris Christie's office this week indicate that the Montclair School District will receive more than $6.5 million in state school aid for the 2012-2013 year that starts July 1.

That amount represents a nice jump from the $5.7 million received from the state by the Montclair district this year and is good news for a Board of Education about to dive into the budget process for 2012-2013 at its next meeting on Monday evening at 7:30 p.m.

Find out what's happening in Montclairwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Montclair School Board President Shelly Lombard confirmed that the district received about $800,000 more than it did last year.

"I know that some have commented that Christie's budget is too optimistic and I know some districts lost money," she said. "So I have no idea whether we can count on this $800,000 every year going forward."

Overall, the majority of school districts received a slight increase in state aid, with the state average at a 1.8% increase. For Essex County, the average increase was just .4%, with Newark at a slight decrease of .1% and the East Orange district receiving the biggest reduction at almost $3 million, representing a decrease of 1.7% in their state funding.

Find out what's happening in Montclairwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Suburban districts in Essex county fared better, with Cedar Grove's aid increased by 31.2%, Glen Ridge increasing by 34.4%, Livingston receiving a 31.7% increase and Verona's aid increased by 35.8%.

For a full list of the state aid allocation, click here.


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