The Lakewood Board of Education on Wednesday released details of its proposed 2022-2023 budget, totaling $333,383,689, with $111 million of the required funds expected to be obtained via property taxes.
The full budget proposal can be read here.
The Lakewood School District will also be requesting a $24 million loan from the state to cover funding deficits. The district is already well over $100 million in debt to the state for school-related loans, and a push is being made to have New Jersey revise the school funding formula to better serve Lakewood, which is being crushed by a formula that doesn’t account for the township’s roughly 40,000 private school students.
NJ Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a recent court filing that Lakewood should not be asking for increased aid from the state, as it could do more to hike its own revenue by increasing taxes and eliminating wasteful spending.
The Board of Education budget is to be voted on tonight, with the meeting beginning at 7:30 pm. Watch live here.