51 Jobs Cut As East Brunswick Schools Faces Budget Shortfall

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ – The East Brunswick School District will be eliminating 51 positions as they face a shortfall of $7.8 million due to reduced state aid.

For the 2024-25 school year, state aid was reduced by $1.3 million. The total budgetary impact for the district is $12.8 million, according to a budget presentation held on April 25.

Superintendent Victor Valeski informed the community of the “painful decision” to eliminate jobs during a special presentation to the community held on April 24, a day before the budget presentation.

“This is not something I like doing… I’ve been on the other side of the equation before and know how it feels,” Valeksi said.

At the budget presentation held the next day, the community was given a breakdown of what the budget for the 2024-25 year will look like.

“They are not easy decisions. They are incredibly painful. The last thing we want to do is impact staff,” said Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Bernardo Giuliana. “But unfortunately, when we look at the compositions of the budget… about 69.5 percent of the budget is salary and benefits.”

Among those who will be losing their position is Louis Figueroa, Assistant Superintendent of Student Activities and Services. Many residents spoke about the impact of Figueroa leaving the district.

Positions that will be eliminated include teachers, administrators, counselors, secretaries and custodians.

During the budget presentation, Giuliana said the school district is the largest employer in town, employing more than 1,600 people and has 8,370 students.

“This is indeed a really difficult time,” Board President Laurie Lachs said. She also warned residents not to fall for disinformation on social media.

More than 60 school districts will see funding cuts in double-digit percentages, according to proposed district-by-district funding data released by the state in February.

Another 200-plus school districts are poised to see aid increases in the double-digit percentages.

During his annual budget address to legislators, Gov. Phil Murphy said the proposed $55.9 billion spending plan included $11.7 billion for public school funding that he said fully funds the school funding formula for the first time.

That formula was part of the School Funding Reform Act of 2008, which aimed to address school funding inequities.

While many districts have received additional funding, more than 200 have seen aid cuts yearly since 2018, as a result of the revision to the SFRA known as S2 that was signed into law by Murphy. (S2 got its start in 2017, when then-Gov. Chris Christie and then-Senate President Stephen Sweeney made a deal that swapped the increase in the gasoline tax Christie wanted for cuts in state aid to districts that had been receiving adjustment aid.)

The 2024-25 fiscal year is supposed to be the last year of S2 and its cuts. East Brunswick Schools has now begun a call to action, asking residents to write to local lawmakers asking them to intervene and help the district address the financial shortfall.

“We have submitted through the Department of Education a review of the application of the state funding formula, asking them to recalculate it to see if there are any errors in the calculation,” Valeski said during the meeting.

The final budget adoption will take place May 9.

To watch the budget presentation, click here. To watch the special presentation from April 24, click here.