At a school district budget meeting last month, parents, students and members of the Evesham Township Education Association protested approval of a tentative 2025-’26 financial plan will result in the loss of 83 staff positions.
The Evesham school district has faced annual aid cuts for seven years as a result of the S2 Act, which determines which schools lose state financing. The result is the cumulative reduction of over $38 million in state funding since the township’s 2018-’19 district budget.
The 2025-’26 financial plan approved by the district board of education on March 17 again reflects aid losses. It totals $85.7 million and will result in a 2% tax-levy increase of $180.33 for the year on the average Evesham home, or $15.03 per month, an increase that means saving 14 positions that otherwise would have been cut. But it will also result in the elimination of 83 positions – 10% of district staff – in the elementary and middle schools, and a cut in transportation.
On the same day as the board narrowly approved the budget, Assemblywoman Andrea Katz posted on Facebook an image of a letter she submitted to state Department of Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer. It emphasized that the state’s current 6% cap on school-aid increases and its resulting cuts will negatively impact education.
“This policy is not only detrimental to the educational outcomes for our students,” the letter reads, “but it also places an unfair burden on districts like Evesham, which are already struggling.”
Katz also touched on efforts to balance the budget while maintaining the district’s educational standards.
“Without adequate funding, the district is faced with the difficult decision of either cutting vital programs and staff positions or raising local property taxes, both of which are completely unacceptable,” she wrote. “I urge you and the Department of Education to reconsider and lift the 6% cap on school-aid increases.
“It is time to prioritize the needs of our students, teachers, and communities by funding schools like Evesham fairly.”
“I sent this letter to the commissioner of education because the arbitrary 6% growth cap for school funding this year is completely unacceptable,” Katz added in her Facebook post. “It hurts districts like Evesham and should be scrapped immediately. This isn’t fully funding our school districts and I won’t stop until it happens.”
The board’s meeting took place at Marlton Middle School, where the gymnasium was packed with parents, students, teachers and residents. During public participation before the budget was approved, many of them voiced opposition to the proposed plan, sharing experiences on the benefits of threatened positions and programs and the negative effects of the proposed staff and program cuts would have on student development.
School Superintendent Dr. Justin Smith was criticized for a lack of transparency, including not collaborating with the public to find external solutions to aid cuts. Several speakers at the meeting proposed a protest at education department headquarters in Trenton, and members of the Evesham Township Educational Association announced that 97% of its members gave Smith a vote of “no confidence.”
“I want to thank everyone who came out tonight,” Smith said during his meeting remarks. “There’s no combination of words that can be said that can take away the pain or anger (resulting from the budget cuts). From where we are – so you know how it feels to be in this situation – when someone goes into education, there’s no way of imagining that at some point in the distant future, (that person) would be sitting in a meeting talking about what we’re talking about tonight.”
Smith also expressed a willingness to discuss budget alternatives.
“Each of these (alternatives) can be talked about,” he offered. “It’s difficult to talk about (the budget cuts) in a large group because it can be painful sometimes to talk about the logic of things, because the emotion is so real.”
The board approved the financial plan in a close vote of 5-4. Eight days later – on March 25 – Smith, district Business Administrator Jonathon Yates, board member Aiden DeMarsey and leaders of the Evesham Township Education Association testified in Trenton before the assembly budget committee to request an exception to the aid cap.
“(The district’s) uncapped aid is calculated at $8,467,806,” Smith explained to legislators. “Yet due to the 6% growth limit, our district will receive only $7,159,894, leaving $1,307,912 unallocated. Our district has faced years of state-aid reductions, with funding cut nearly in half under S2. To balance our budget each year we’ve made significant annual cuts, depleted reserves, and relied on local taxpayers, who have stepped up beyond the 2% cap, contributing an additional $5.7 million over the past three years.
“This is not a result of fiscal mismanagement,” he added, “but rather a direct consequence of state-imposed funding constraints. Our expenses continue to rise due to inflation, mandated costs, increasing special education and transportation needs, while our revenue growth remains artificially constricted by the state’s 6% percent cap on state-aid increases.”
State Assemblyman Mike Torrissi Jr. and state Sen. Latham Tiver then announced that both sent letters of support to Dehmer requesting an amendment to the funding cap.
The next board of ed meeting is scheduled for May 1.
