Assemblyman and superintendents say health-care and out-of-district special education are straining school budgets

Assemblyman Brian Bergen and three county superintendents said rising health-care costs and out-of-district special-education placements are the most urgent budget pressures facing New Jersey school districts.

Bergen, who represents the area in the State Assembly, and the superintendents used the hourlong podcast to single out two recurring cost drivers: health benefits and placements for students whose needs exceed local capacity. One superintendent said her district has nine students placed out of district, which she estimated costs about $1.6 million of an approximately $9.5 million district budget. She also said the district’s health-benefit premium jump added roughly $27,000 a month this year, though joining the state health-insurance pool has trimmed that by about $3,000–$4,000 per month.

The panel framed those pressures as part of a broader funding and policy picture. Bergen argued that state-level decisions to expand covered benefits — “we keep at the state legislative level covering everything” — steadily increase the health-care bill districts face. Superintendents described a complex state funding formula, declining enrollments in some districts and multi-year reductions in state aid as compounding local fiscal strain.

The conversation emphasized concrete tradeoffs. Bergen pointed to two recent property-tax relief programs he said cost about $5 billion a year combined and suggested reallocating some relief toward the school-funding formula to reduce local tax pressure. Superintendents described how large, unpredictable tuition and transportation bills for out-of-district placements can “totally derail” a local budget year.

Panelists also flagged administrative and regulatory burdens — citing education statutes and regulations — that raise staffing and operational costs. One superintendent proposed a “for every mandate added, remove one” approach, while Bergen said he would welcome a prioritized list of costly mandates to consider for legislative reform.

The panel offered no votes or formal actions; instead they sketched possible next steps: compiling a list of statutory or regulatory costs for legislative review and expanding shared services where feasible. Bergen said he can draft bills quickly through the Office of Legislative Services but acknowledged the political work of finding partners to move them through Trenton.

The discussion closed with an emphasis on predictability and student outcomes: panelists said their priority is making it affordable to educate a child while preserving programs and services.