FREEHOLD BOROUGH, NJ

Freehold Borough, underfunded by $14 million, must pay its wealthier neighbor rent for classrooms to relieve severe overcrowding.

In 1919, an industrial and fairly prosperous Freehold Borough separated from a Township that was mostly farmland. Today, the formerly rural area has become an upper-middle-class suburb, while the industrial center has plunged into poverty.

The lower-income Borough district has seen enrollment grow significantly over the last twenty years, resulting in overcrowded classrooms. With limited resources, the district has been unable to afford the new construction needed to address the problem. Instead, the district has been forced to pay rent to the wealthier Township school district, which already receives almost $5,000 more per pupil in education revenue. Despite this attempted work-around, a large majority of the Borough’s K-5 classes still exceed state size requirements.

Under the state’s funding formula, the Borough should receive $23.7 million in state aid next year, but is only slated to receive $9.7 million due to underfunding. Since the state legislature has failed to address the Borough’s need for additional state aid, system leaders have tried to act locally. The Borough has tried and failed twice to win voter approval for $33 million for new school construction. A state judge has since agreed that the schools are “severely overcrowded” and recommended that the state Commissioner override the local community's vote and order that they support a construction bond. But the Commissioner has declined to act, and the underfunded Freehold Borough School District continues paying rent to its wealthy suburban neighbor.