State aid notices for the 2023-2024 school year can now be found under “School Aid” in the New Jersey Department of Education’s Homeroom portal.
The NJDOE announced in an advisory that its school district online budget software was recently updated to reflect each district’s state school aid. Additionally, software screens and functions that were previously blocked from access are now available for use.
There has been no change to the process for gaining access to the budget application through the Homeroom portal. The district Homeroom administrator must create the user accounts for individuals that need access to the budget software. Please refer to the Homeroom Administrator Manual for instructions regarding the Homeroom administrator login. The budget software is named “Budget Statement” in the Homeroom Administrator system.
Screens and functions now available include:
- State school aid revenue is loaded into the revenue screen.
- Amounts for tuition to state facilities, the Schools Development Authority assessment and transfer to charter schools are loaded into the appropriations screen.
- Updates to enable full functionality of the edit report tab.
- School Funding Reform Act calculations, report of district status.
- SFRA calculations, minimum tax levy.
- SFRA calculations, prebudget year Levy and enrollment adjustment report, line B adjustment for P.L.2020, c. 44 savings in health care costs.
- County Special Services School District maximum permitted net budget.
- Tax levy certification tab, including the A4F report and the estimated tax rate information report.
- County review and approval tab.
- User-friendly budget report and advertised budget for newspapers report.
- Printable PDF report.
A complete listing of the edits can be found at Appendix B of the 2023-2024 Budget Guidelines and Electronic Data Collection Manual.
The advisory includes instructions for school districts with November and April elections, including when they must submit a proposed budget to their executive county superintendent, how they must advertise it and other stipulations. The advisory also outlines adjustments for P.L.2020, c.44, provides details on the county review and approval tab and more.
You can find a variety of spreadsheets and summaries breaking down fiscal year 2024 state school aid by county, school district and by preschool education aid here.
For information and resources regarding the 2023-2024 budget process, refer to the NJDOE’s Districtwide Budget webpage. Contact your county office of education with questions.