District overview
Bayonne School District
How Bayonne's schools are paid for, who decides, and what is on the public record
Where does the money come from, and what is changing?
Bayonne's 2026-2027 budget is $223,043,006, up $12.8 million. About $135 million of that is state aid and $85 million the local property tax levy. The important change is the direction: New Jersey's S2 law had been raising Bayonne's state aid year after year, and it has now sunsetted. The administration told the board in April 2026 that the district will no longer see jumps in state aid and will depend more heavily on local taxes. The local levy is going from $76 million to $85 million, roughly a 12 percent rise, and even so it stays about $47 million below the $133 million 'local fair share' the state calculates Bayonne should contribute - a gap the administration says the state now looks at when deciding how much aid to send.
Total budget: $223,043,006
An increase of $12.8 million on the year, presented for adoption at the April 28, 2026 meeting.
Local levy: $85 million, up from $76 million
About a 12 percent increase in the local share, and the part of the budget that has to grow now that state aid has stopped growing.
State aid: about $135 million
Still the larger share, but no longer rising: the S2 funding law that had been increasing it has sunsetted.
$47 million below local fair share
The state calculates Bayonne's local fair share at $133 million. Even after the increase the levy is well under it, and the administration told the board the state weighs that gap when setting aid.
Being under local fair share also means Bayonne taxpayers have been paying less towards their schools than the state's formula expects, so the increase is partly the formula catching up rather than a new cost appearing.
What is on the public record
An increase of $12.8 million, as presented to the board.
Up from $76 million, about a 12 percent increase. Figures as stated at the meeting, rounded by the presenter.
No longer rising: the S2 funding law that had been increasing it has sunsetted.
Local fair share is calculated at $133 million against a proposed $85 million levy.
Covering twelve meetings from October 2025 to August 2026, including separate workshop recordings.
The district publishes agendas and recordings but no minutes.
Four carry extractable text; the rest produced none, and the set runs to hundreds of pages.
Adopted March 2003; the published text carries no revision after October 26, 2020.
Major projects
Bond referendum: a new school at the St. Andrews site
Prepared, then paused; no referendum date set and the board disagrees publicly about whyA referendum plan that would build a new school on the St. Andrews site and fund facility improvements across the district. A trustee said in August 2026 that the administration asked the board to proceed in February 2026, that the plan was developed and hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money spent, and that trustees were then told someone had stopped it. The board president said she had not stopped it and wants this board to bring it to fruition; the superintendent said RFPs for architect and legal counsel would slow the process.
- According to statements at the August meeting, the administration asks the board to move forward with a referendum plan
- Trustee says the referendum has been stopped and asks publicly who stopped it; the board president denies stopping it; the superintendent says the architect and legal counsel RFPs will slow the process
Funding
Unfunded. A bond referendum would have to be approved by Bayonne voters; no amount, date or question has been published in the collected record.
The 2026-2027 budget and the end of S2 aid growth
Presented for adoption April 28, 2026A $223,043,006 budget, up $12.8 million, funded by about $135 million of state aid and an $85 million local levy, up from $76 million. The district's state aid stops growing this year because the S2 funding law has sunsetted, so future increases have to come from the local levy, which remains about $47 million below the state's $133 million local fair share figure for Bayonne.
- Budget presentation and state aid discussion at the March board meeting
- 2026-2027 budget of $223,043,006 presented for adoption, with the levy rising to $85 million
Funding
About $135 million state aid and $85 million local property tax levy, plus other local and federal revenue.
Superintendent's contract amendment
Public hearing and vote scheduled for September 22, 2026; outcome not yet publishedThe board gave formal notice that it would hold a public hearing and take formal action to amend, alter or renegotiate the contract of Superintendent John J. Niesz, with public comment invited on the terms, allocation and structure of the proposed amendment and the proposed amendment available for inspection for at least ten days beforehand.
- Notice of public hearing on the superintendent's contract issued by the board secretary
- Public hearing and vote scheduled at the regular meeting, 6:00 pm, Alexander X. O'Connor Auditorium
Funding
Superintendent salary and benefits within the operating budget; the notice does not give figures.
Recent news
Bayonne publishes agendas and an official video recording for each board meeting but no minutes. This page reads the recordings through machine-generated transcripts, together with the agendas, the board's own public notices and its published policy manual. The agendas and meetings page is re-read each week.
Get alerts for Bayonne School District
We read every agenda, packet, and set of minutes, and write up the decisions that affect families — each one linked to the document it came from.
View alerts for this district