Schools
Glo. Twp. Public Schools Holds Extra Aid
Gov. Christie announced in mid-July that the district would receive an additional $954,775 in aid out of the state's fiscal year 2012 budget.
Gloucester Township Public Schools (GTPS) will move the additional $954,775 in state aid it received last month to the 2012-13 budget.
Gov. Chris Christie announced on July 13 that most districts across New Jersey would receive more money from the state than was announced in February.
The state gave school districts until July 19 to decide how to allocate the additional funding. Like GTPS, many districts across the state have opted to allocate the additional funding to a future school year.
According to GTPS Assistant Superintendent John Bilodeau, following the governor's initial announcement, the state stipulated that the funds could be used in the upcoming 2011-2012 school year or allocated to be used during one of the next two school years.
"This information was discussed with the school board and superintendent (Thomas Seddon). Since all programs and services are intact for the 2011-12 school year, the decision was made to allocate the funds for the 2012-13 school year," said Bilodeau
Bilodeau said the funds will be considered as a revenue source for next school year.
"If the state issues additional guidelines on how the funding is to be used for 2012-13, then we will adjust our budget to make sure the money is used" that way, said Bilodeau.
According to Bilodeau, the state aid fills part of a void anticipated for next year's budget following the use of one-time federal aid during the 2011-2012 school year. This one time federal aid had a time limit attached and needed to be used.
The next GTPS board meeting is tentatively scheduled for Aug. 22 in the district administrative building.
The Black Horse Pike Regional School District (BHPRSD) also received additional state aid. The $634,911 bump increased the overall state aid for the high-school district to $31,624,805.
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BHPRSD officials did not return several messages from Patch seeking information on how the additional aid will be allocated.
The BHPRSD boards is scheduled to meet Thursday night at Highland Regional High School.
