Before Bill S-2 was passed, as early as 2015, district leaders communicated with the Commissioner of Education and Senate leaders, met with local leaders, consulted legal counsel, and wrote and presented dozens of documents explaining the inherent flaws in the funding process.
With the passage of S-2 and the affected districts announced in July 2018, Toms River Regional’s campaign went full throttle with press conferences, news releases, videos, and partnerships with other school districts, organizations, and legislators. The district co-founded SOS and joined voices and action with more than 80 other districts. On March 5, 2019, thousands of students, teachers, parents, administrators, and Board members, most of them from Toms River Regional, arrived in Trenton by the busload as Governor Murphy delivered his annual budget address. Dozens of students, teachers, and administrators followed up with testimony at Senate and Assembly budget hearings in late March, depositing over 30,000 letters from students, parents, and teachers on legislators’ desks.
In August 2019, our Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution condemning the funding process and beginning the application for emergency aid, which has yet to be responded to. It worked to bring organizations like the NJ School Boards Association to join the battle. Administrators and Board members continue to meet with political leaders to make sure Trenton hears our concerns and understand the impact of their decisions. Parent letters and social media campaigns continue to add to the fight. And press coverage on the issue is increasingly supportive (see below).
Years of fighting forged through a global pandemic, and under Superintendent Michael Citta, who began his tenure in 2021, conversations seemed hopeful, especially with the state acknowledging the position Toms River is in. However, no amount of rationale and diplomacy resulted in action, and on Sept. 30, 2024, the Toms River Board of Education filed a lawsuit against the State of the New Jersey and the NJDOE.