District overview
Brick Township Public School District
How Brick Township schools are paid for, who decides, and what is being built or contested right now
Where does the money come from?
Brick Township runs on local property tax. Of the $164.1 million general fund the board adopted for 2026-2027, $142.6 million is raised in Brick taxes and only about $20.5 million comes from every other source combined, and the district carries no debt service levy at all. New Jersey normally caps how fast that levy can grow at 2 percent a year, so when a cost rises faster the money has to come from somewhere else. For 2026-2027 the board went above the cap by $5.2 million using the state's allowable health adjustment, the exception written into the law for health insurance increases, and in May 2026 it adopted a formal resolution saying premium growth is unsustainable and warning that the pressure can end in district deficits, programme cuts and school closures. Separately the district is paying outside lawyers to contest the state aid figure it has been given.
About 87 percent of the general fund is local tax
$142,640,431 of the $164,119,022 general fund for 2026-2027. Anticipated revenues from all other sources are $20,478,591, and the debt service levy is zero, so there is no borrowing being repaid by taxpayers.
The levy went above the 2 percent cap for health costs
The final budget raised the levy $5,177,304 above the tentative one, explained in the board's own resolution as utilising the allowable health adjustment. Between tentative and final the district added one grades 1-5 teacher and cut $71,763 from grades 9-12 teacher salaries for other higher prioritised needs.
The district is litigating its state aid
The board appointed counsel for state aid litigation services at $435 an hour in June 2026 and revised that appointment in August 2026. State aid litigation has appeared in the finance committee's report at meeting after meeting since October 2025.
Building work is being paid for from capital, not borrowing
Heating and air-conditioning replacement is running at five buildings at once, with roughly $27.9 million showing in the capital project construction accounts. The facilities committee has started discussing a future referendum and a comprehensive facilities assessment for the rest of the work.
An elected board of volunteers decides
Board members are elected at the November general election and seated at the January reorganization meeting, which opens by reading the state Code of Ethics for School Board Members into the record. Superintendent Dr. Thomas Farrell leads the administration.
None of this means Brick is in crisis. The budget was adopted on time after an advertised public hearing, the 2024-2025 audit came to the board in January 2026, the district has no debt service levy to repay, and it is generating income from solar by selling renewable energy credits. The cost pressure the board describes is a statewide health-insurance problem rather than anything specific to Brick's management.
Where the district stands
Calculated: $142,640,431 of taxes to be raised against $164,119,022 of general fund expenditures, both from the adopted budget, so the ratio is context rather than a reported figure.
From the federal NCES Common Core of Data 2025-26 preliminary directory, not a district document.
Major projects
Heating and air-conditioning replacement across five buildings
Under construction through 2026Separate contracts are replacing HVAC systems at the Warren H. Wolf and Herbertsville early childhood centres and at Midstreams and Osbornville elementary schools, with air-conditioning work, boiler projects, a chiller at Brick Memorial High School, fuel tanks and pumps at the transportation depot, and ADA chair lifts at Brick Township High School running alongside. Change orders came to the board through the year from Thermal Piping, Thassian and Chappelle Mechanical.
- Change order approved with Thermal Piping for the Warren H. Wolf HVAC project
- Facilities committee reports on air-conditioning units at four buildings and the high school chair lifts
- Change order approved with Thassian for the Osbornville and Midstreams HVAC project
- Change order approved with Chappelle Mechanical for the Herbertsville HVAC project
- Committee reports add a chiller at Brick Memorial High School and fuel pumps at the depot
Funding
District capital projects fund, with roughly $27.9 million showing across the construction accounts; no referendum borrowing
Kitchen additions at Midstreams and Osbornville elementary schools
In design and constructionThe district is adding kitchens at Midstreams and Osbornville elementary schools, with architectural work by Spiezle Architectural Group appearing in the bill lists against a food-service capital account. The project has been on the facilities committee's agenda every month since October 2025, latterly described as the Osbornville kitchen addition.
- Facilities committee reports the Midstreams and Osbornville kitchen projects
- Committee narrows its report to the Osbornville kitchen project
- Committee reports the Osbornville kitchen addition alongside long-term capital planning
Funding
Food service and capital accounts; architectural fees billed through Spiezle Architectural Group
Litigation over the district's state aid
Counsel appointed for 2026-2027Brick is contesting the state aid it receives. The board appointed a provider of state aid litigation services at $435 an hour, capped at 91.5 hours and $39,802, for the year from July 1, 2026, and revised that appointment in August 2026. The subject has been in the finance committee's report at nearly every meeting since October 2025, always next to the budget.
- State aid litigation first appears in the finance committee's report
- Board appoints counsel for state aid litigation services through June 30, 2027
- Revised state aid litigation appointment placed on the special meeting agenda
Funding
Operating budget; a fair-and-open professional services appointment
Comprehensive facilities assessment and the next round of building work
Assessment under way; no referendum proposedBeyond the heating and cooling contracts already running, the facilities committee is lining up a comprehensive facilities assessment of the whole district, the Osbornville Elementary kitchen addition, ADA chair lifts at Brick Township High School, and replacement of the fuel tanks and pumps at the transportation depot. It has also begun asking whether that adds up to a future referendum, but no question, cost or election date has been published.
- Facilities committee reports on Referendum and School Solar Funding Opportunities
- Committee discusses long-term capital planning including a future referendum and the comprehensive facilities assessment
Funding
Would require voter approval to borrow; the district currently has no debt service levy
Solar generation and renewable energy credit sales
OperatingBrick buys power from a solar installation under a Brightcore power purchase agreement billed through BCE NJ Solar One, and sells the renewable energy credits the system earns through agreements with Spectron Energy that the board ratified in May 2026. The facilities committee has also looked at further school solar funding opportunities.
- Bill lists show Brightcore power purchase agreement invoices paid through BCE NJ Solar One
- Facilities committee reports on school solar funding opportunities
- Board ratifies Spectron Energy agreements to sell solar renewable energy credits
Funding
Power purchase agreement paid from operating accounts, offset by income from selling solar renewable energy credits
Bell-to-bell student device rules under Policy 5516
At second reading for the 2026-27 yearPolicy 5516, Student Use of Internet-Enabled Devices, was created in June 2023 and rewritten in September 2026 to match New Jersey's bell-to-bell law and the state's January 2026 guidance. It bars device use on school grounds during the school day, with exceptions for education plans, health plans, translation, student caregivers and emergencies, and a written parental accommodation route answered within five school days.
- Policy 5516 edited to the bell-to-bell standard
- Policy and Regulation 5516 placed on the agenda for second-reading approval
Funding
No separate appropriation identified in the collected records
Recent news
Built from the Brick Township Board of Education's own records: every agenda and set of approved minutes in its public Google Drive archives from October 2025 through September 2026, the district's Board Meeting Information page documents including the user-friendly budget and the 2026-2027 calendars and schedules, and the district's published policies on student device use and generative artificial intelligence.
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