$6.5M In Layoffs, Tax Hikes Approved To Close Cherry Hill School Budget Gap

CHERRY HILL, NJ — The Cherry Hill Board of Education approved the new budget for the district on Tuesday night, complete with a tax hike and jobs that were cut due to a $29 million gap.

The vote landed at 7 to 1 and followed plenty of community reaction both in person and online.

"The state has epically failed us," Lori, a former Board member and current Cherry Hill resident, said, "in a district where you have millionaires, and you have homelessness...ridiculous and offensive...we need to restructure the system entirely."

Around 70 jobs will be lost districtwide, according to officials.

The new budget also includes a 7.4 percent property tax hike on an average assessed home with a value of $227,000.

This equates to around $35 more each month, or $420 across the year.

"I can't pay 90 percent of the budget...my wallet is not that deep. I can barely pay the bills and buy groceries, let alone fund my neighbor's school, fund the town over, and fund fully my district," Lori added. "People do need to scream, don't call...shout!"

The Cherry Hill Public Schools Board of Education held a special meeting on March 24 to discuss a tentative budget overview after learning they would be allocated three percent, or $860,000, less in federal funding.

This is the third school year in a row that Cherry Hill has received a lesser allocation than the year prior, amounting to an $8.6 million loss.

"It's the worst of all possible worlds...I spent the weekend going back through everything literally, line by line, to try and find some way to fix this," Board President Gina Winters said on Tuesday night. "None of us want to do this tonight."

Board leaders lined out other drivers of rising costs such as an estimated $10 million hike in employee health coverage, transportation contract growth, special education costs, and regular contractual salary raises.

The two percent tax levy cap also limits the amount New Jersey school districts can obtain from local revenue growth on an annual basis.

The district is no longer in a place to use a fund balance to support operations and delay layoffs, Board officials said at the meeting.

The capital reserve fund has dipped under $4 million due to earlier uses for bond payments to offset tax increases.

In order to combat the deficit, the Board proposed the 7.4 percent tax levy hike to garner around $14.8 million in additional funding.

Another $14.5 million is needed, and will include $8 million coming from non-personnel spending and $6.5 million in staff reductions.

These non-personnel cuts center around instructional support systems, program resources, professional services, and supplies without waste.

Staff salaries and benefits account for nearly 80 percent of the district's budget, Cherry Hill officials said.

While the $12.4 billion towards school aid is an increase over 2025/2026, Cherry Hill is one of the 167 of the 574 public school districts that saw a reduction as part of Governor Mikie Sherrill's larger goal for consolidation and more shared services.

"I look out tonight at this community audience, and I see my children's teachers, and I see my friends...it's breaking my heart, and I want you to know that," Winters added at the conclusion of her remarks on Tuesday.

She will be going to Trenton on Friday for a meeting with an assemblyman, along with representatives from five other school districts, to continue voicing concerns and ask for more help from the state.

Winters also called on the Cherry Hill school community to reach out to Majority Leader Louis Greenwald's office ahead of her visit to support the effort.

MORE FROM PATCH: 'AI Hallucinations' Used By NJ Lawyer To Create Fake Citations, Judge Says

HAVE A STORY IDEA OR NEWS TO SHARE? Contact Editor Eddie Callahan at edward.callahan@patch.com to connect with Patch in your area.