District overview
Montclair Public School District
Funding structure, how it compares to peers, and where major projects stand.
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What shapes Montclair's school budget?
New Jersey's School Funding Reform Act uses enrollment and weighted student needs to calculate an adequacy budget and state aid. Montclair's own 2026-27 budget is much more dependent on local taxes: the board approved a $179.8 million budget, with $147.4 million in ordinary taxes before the separate voter-approved levy. This follows a 2024-25 deficit that led the district to request emergency state financing and make staff and school-configuration changes.
Local taxes carry most of the budget
The final 2026-27 budget lists $147.4 million in taxes, $25.1 million in state and federal aid, and $7.2 million in other revenue.
The deficit affected classrooms
The district's corrective plan identified a projected $7.05 million 2025-26 shortfall and reductions involving counselors, interventionists, nurses, librarians, paraprofessionals, world language, technology, security, and other services.
Voters supplied additional recovery funding
Board records later incorporated a $12.6 million levy approved at the March 10, 2026 special election.
The records establish serious financial stress and corrective actions, but they do not by themselves show the district's current audited year-end position.
Where the district stands
General fund, special revenue, and debt service combined.
Before the separate $12.6 million voter-approved levy.
Requested after the district ended 2024-25 with a deficit and projected a cash-flow problem.
The plan attributed the projection to salaries, legal costs, transportation, utilities, and health insurance.
Board records state the total budget but do not provide a reliable enrollment denominator or a comparable current-expenditure figure.
Major projects
Financial recovery and corrective action plan
Corrective work continuesThe district sought emergency financing, proposed voter levies, reduced staffing, and committed to stronger budget reporting, purchasing controls, position accounting, and updated financial software.
- Board approves $13.6 million state-loan request
- Corrective action plan presented
- Voters approve $12.6 million levy reflected in later board records
Funding
State emergency financing, local tax levy, and expenditure reductions
The collected records do not yet provide a final audited recovery result.
Renaissance Middle School repurposing
Approved for preschool useThe board approved closing and repurposing Renaissance Middle School to house preschool students beginning in 2026-27 as part of budget and middle-school consolidation actions.
- Board authorizes state application
- Board approves long-range facilities-plan amendment
Funding
District budget and preschool program funding
The reviewed resolution does not state a conversion-project total.
Generative-AI policy and implementation plan
Scheduled for September 16 considerationThe proposed policy would require a district AI plan covering approved tools, assignment-specific permission, citations, family notice or consent, privacy, bias, misinformation, academic integrity, and consequences.
- Policy 2365 scheduled for board consideration
Funding
Not stated
The proposal permits an AI coordinator but does not identify a cost.
Recent news
The overview uses Montclair Board of Education records collected for the trailing year. Directly reported district figures cite those official records; broader explanations of New Jersey's funding formula are context.
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