Back to School 2002—

SCHOOLS PRACTICE WHAT THEY TEACH: IT’S GOOD TO SHARE

TRENTON, August 1, 2002—With 2002-03 school district budgets especially tight due to the state’s fiscal crisis, many local school districts are practicing what teachers have always told their students: It’s good to share.

And when those doing the sharing are school districts and local government, there are added benefits: It takes some of the burden off local property taxpayers and directs limited funds to classroom programs.

The list of services that school districts share is a long one: pupil transportation, technology, library resources, food services, curriculum development, teacher training, child study teams, special education, snow and trash removal, custodial services and purchasing. A number of small school districts are even sharing employment costs for administrators.

Interest in sharing services should be on the increase, according to the New Jersey School Boards Association, a federation of the state’s local boards of education.

“Because of the state budget crisis, New Jersey’s aid to local school districts was held flat. This has produced a crunch at the local level as school districts dealt with increased enrollment, skyrocketing insurance costs, and program cuts,” said Glenn B. Ewan,

New Jersey School Boards Association president. “Shared services can provide an option to provide services in a more cost efficient and effective manner.”

School districts sharing services is not a new concept. Two years ago, Rutgers University found that three-quarters of New Jersey’s school districts share services. Seven years ago, the New Jersey School Boards Association, in a study calling for state incentives to promote consolidation of school district services, found several examples across the state.

Current examples of shared services identified by the New Jersey School Boards Association or the state Department of Education include—

¾ The Piscataway Public Schools in Middlesex County shares bus routes for special education, vocational and non-public school students with four other districts. According to Piscataway officials, the cost of transporting a student on a shared bus route can range from one-half to one-eighth of what a district would pay individually. In addition, the Piscataway school board has shared-service arrangements with its municipality. The township, for example, paves the school parking lots at reduced costs, while the school district provides soccer facilities for township recreation programs.

Unfortunately, state programs to promote new shared-service arrangements through financial incentives fell victim to the state’s budget crisis this year.

“We support state financial incentives that encourage schools and municipalities to explore new types of shared service arrangements and which reward them for making the effort on behalf of students and taxpayers,” said Ewan of NJSBA. “It is in the interest of New Jersey’s citizens to restore the incentive grants available through these types of programs as soon as possible.”

Created in 1999, the state’s REDI program (Regional Efficiency Development Incentive) provided funds to help local governments pay for feasibility studies and the start-up costs of shared services with neighboring school districts, towns or counties. Before it was cut, the REDI program awarded nearly $2.2 million just to school districts.

The other incentive program, REAP (Regional Efficiency Aid Program), has provided tax credits directly to homeowners as a way to publicly reward school districts and municipalities for sharing services. Last year, property taxpayers in 249 communities received a reduction in their tax bills. This year, however, homeowners in only 14 communities will benefit from property tax reductions through REAP, according to state officials. The change resulted from a cut in REAP funding from $19.54 million to $8.7 million.

“As school budgets become tighter, I expect that many boards of education will look for ways to stretch the tax dollar; even without state incentives, sharing services is a viable option to maintain programming,” said Ewan. “Our communities will continue to benefit from the efforts of local officials who took the initiative to establish shared-service agreements.”

REPORTERS, EDITORS, NEWS DIRECTORS: NJSBA can provide information about shared service arrangements in your local public schools. For information, call the NJSBA Public Information Department at (609) 278-5202.