Ocean City Schools Get a Half-Million Dollars in New State Aid

The Ocean City School District will receive an additional $507,743 in state aid for the current fiscal year

Gov. Chris Christie's administration announced today (July 13) a plan to increase state aid to New Jersey schools by $850 million.

The governor had already announced a $250 million increase. The new aid includes $450 million for urban Abbott districts and $150 million for the rest of the state's school districts.

“This year, New Jersey increased state aid to school districts by $850 million over last year, restoring every dollar of the cuts we were forced to make last year and increasing aid by an additional $30 million. We are keeping faith with our commitment to New Jersey’s children and families, spending more money per pupil on New Jersey’s students than almost any other state in the country,” Christie said in a news release. “Now is the time to complement the dollars spent with real education reform to bring a focus on student learning, accountability and results.”

School officials in Ocean City could not be reached late on Wednesday afternoon to see what plans they have for the money, what guidelines they might have to follow and if any of the new aid will be used for tax relief.

Because property tax rates have not yet be certified by the county boards of taxations, boards of education will be permitted to reconsider their FY 2011-2012 budgets and reduce their property tax levies by recognizing the new aid as revenue in their budgets.   Boards of education will have until 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday July 19 to make final decisions concerning their tax levies.