New Jersey Senate Republicans

09/22/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/23/2026 13:10

Senator Henry Hosts Education Roundtable with Local Superintendents on School Funding Concerns

News Flash

Senator Henry Hosts Education Roundtable with Local Superintendents on School Funding Concerns

Owen Henry Posted on September 22, 2026

Senator Owen Henry (R-Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Ocean), a member of the Senate Education Committee, hosted a roundtable with superintendents from school districts in the 12th Legislative District to discuss concerns about New Jersey's school funding formula and the challenges districts face in planning their budgets.

This roundtable marked Senator Henry's fourth education-focused meeting with local school officials, this time bringing together superintendents from Old Bridge, Jackson, Englishtown/Manalapan, and others to discuss funding challenges and potential ways to make the school funding formula more predictable and transparent.

"Today, I had the pleasure of meeting with school superintendents to hear directly about how changes to New Jersey's school funding formula have affected their districts and the challenges they face when planning for the future," said Senator Owen Henry. "We have heard far too often that schools are being forced to lay off staff and cut programs to make ends meet. That is not a sustainable way to fund our schools. We need a more predictable and transparent funding system that gives districts the certainty they need to plan responsibly and provide students and educators with the resources they need."

What They're Saying

Jackson School District Superintendent Dan Baginski stated that in this past year, Jackson's non-public school transportation costs reached over $8 million with state aid covering only $2 million.

Englishtown/Manalapan School District Superintendent Nicole Santora, Ed.D., outlined to Senator Henry that the district lost $73 million in state aid over the last 10 years.

Old Bridge Superintendent Vinny Sasso stated that the community is at a "boiling point" after exhausting all internal district efforts of closing schools and reducing positions. "The taxpayers can only bear so much," he said.

New Jersey Senate Republicans published this content on September 22, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 23, 2026 at 19:11 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]