BRICK TOWNSHIP — The Brick Township School District has reached out to Rep. Chris Smith (R-4), Gov. Phil Murphy’s office and the New Jersey Department of Education following the announcement that 20 New Jersey school districts, including Brick, are facing federal funding cuts of approximately $85 million and awaiting guidance.
The $85 million was COVID-era funding that was used or is being used for critical infrastructure projects. Funding for the projects came through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) and Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations.
With the cuts, the Brick School District would be out $97,841.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, in a March 28 letter to New Jersey officials, said that the school districts’ time to spend remaining COVID relief funds would end on that same day.
According to the Department of Education, the original deadline for states to have spent the COVID relief funds was January of 2025, but President Joe Biden, while in office, extended the deadline to March of 2026.
Gov. Murphy said in a press release that, “We were recently notified that New Jersey is facing yet another devastating federal funding cut from the Trump Administration, impacting critical infrastructure projects across 20 school districts to improve student health and safety.”
“These cuts are reckless and irresponsible, allowing us very little time for contingency plans. New Jersey is proud of its best-in-the-nation public school system and we will do everything we can to restore this funding and maintain our reputation for excellence in public education,” Murphy stated.
“At a time of unprecedented chaos and uncertainty at the federal level, Washington is failing the next generation,” the governor added.
In her letter, McMahon said that school districts can apply for an extension on a project-specific basis, showing why the money is needed to mitigate COVID-19’s effect on students.
Her letter stated that, “Extending deadlines for COVID-related grants, which are, in fact, taxpayer funds, years after the COVID pandemic ended is not consistent with the department’s priorities and thus not a worthwhile exercise of its discretion.”
On COVID-relief spending, Brick Township School District Business Administrator James W. Edwards said that the Brick Board of Education at its meeting on July 19, 2022, awarded an HVAC project at the Veterans Memorial Middle School to GBI Inc. trading as Thermal Piping. The amount of $4,899,000 was charged to the school’s ARP grant.
Edwards said, “As we were getting close to the grant end period of Sept. 30, 2024, we had spent all of our APR grant money except $97,841.”
According to Edwards, the district was allowed to request an extension to spend the ARP funds.
“At the time, we weren’t sure if we would spend more toward this project by the Sept. 30, 2024 deadline, so we requested to carry over the entire unspent amount of $97,841. Our extension request was approved,” said Edwards.
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