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Facing a multi-year budget deficit, the Robbinsville Township school district has approved plans to eliminate all junior varsity sports at the middle school level — a change that will affect more than 200 middle school athletes. At the high school level, golf and swim programs, along with several coaching positions, will also be cut.
The Robbinsville Board of Education approved the 2026-27 budget on April 28 to address a $2.2 million shortfall driven by declining state aid and New Jersey’s 2% cap on annual tax levy increases. Under the new plan, middle school athletics will be limited mainly to seventh- and eighth-graders, though sixth-graders will still be allowed to participate in lower-enrollment sports. In total, the budget includes $2.4 million in cuts, including the elimination of 15 full-time staff positions and courtesy busing, an increase in class sizes, and reductions to mental health services, among other measures.
Fifth-grade student Harper Novick, a multisport athlete at Pond Road Middle School, said she was devastated when she heard about the cuts.
“Sports are 90% of my free time, which I don’t get a lot of,” Novick stated during the Robbinsville Board of Education meeting in March. “When we play sports, we make special bonds, learn teamwork, and important life lessons. Knowing that I won’t get a chance to play middle school sports until seventh grade is devastating.”
“I know so many amazing athletes in my grade who are good enough to make middle school teams right now,” said Sienna Kasin, a fifth grader who attended Padra Middle School, during an April 28 school board hearing. “The way I see it is sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders are all a part of the same middle school. If everyone can’t try out, then it’s not really a middle school team.”
This decision comes as many other New Jersey districts, such as Nutley, Lacey, Bernards, and East Brunswick, have either raised fees or eliminated sports programs from their upcoming budgets due to rising costs and budget struggles.
At the middle school level, the Bernards Township School District will charge students $50 at William Annin Middle School and $100 at Ridge High School for participating in sports or other activities, according to a $130.1 million budget approved earlier this month for the 2026–27 academic year. Parents at Tabernacle School District had to come together to raise more than $14,000 and agree to raise fees to $160 per sport to keep middle school sports going for the 2026-27 school year.
“We’re a very efficient district. By any analysis, we spend our money on kids,” Robbinsville Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Patrick Pizzo tells NJ.com. If there were items left to cut that weren’t student-facing, we would look towards those measures. But when you talk about over ten years of this issue developing, any areas where you would have additional resources to cut rather than cutting student-facing programs are long gone at this point.”
In March, Robbinsville voters rejected a ballot question that would have allowed the district to raise an additional $5 million for the upcoming budget through a $5.03 million tax increase. This comes after voters previously said yes to a March 2024 referendum that authorized the Robbinsville school district $2,750,000 for the 2024- 2025 school year, in addition to that year’s budget, with a slight increase in property taxes.
“Tonight’s unofficial election results indicate that the School District’s public question did not receive voter approval,” Robbinsville Mayor Mike Todd said in a statement. “I know this issue has been deeply important to many in our community, and I want to thank everyone who took the time to stay informed, engage in the discussion and participate in the vote.”
“We have a structural deficit, says Superintendent Pizzo. “When I say we have a $2.2 million deficit, it’s not a one-off; it recurs each year. With the $5 million, we were looking to implement a multi-year plan to ensure the district’s long-term financial solvency and preserve these programs.”
According to election data, only 2,384 residents voted in person on Election Day, and 1,141 ballots were cast by mail “I am disappointed that only 28% of our town participated in this important vote, and I am heartbroken by the reality and the outcome of tonight’s presentation, which reveals what the cuts will look like in year one,” said Robbinsville resident Loni Jacobs during open comments during the March Board meeting.
Governor Mikie Sherrill signed a $60.7 billion budget into law on June 30, including a record $12.4 billion for K-12 schools in 2027, a $370 million increase over last year’s funding. More than 400 school districts are slated to see their budgets increase, but Robbinsville is unfortunately not one of them. In the approved budget, the Mercer County district is slated to lose $303,587 in state aid or 3.00%.
The S-2 school funding formula, or “School Funding Reform Act of 2008,” revised in 2018 to eliminate “adjustment aid” for districts receiving more state funding than the formula required, has come under intense scrutiny from towns like Jefferson and Tabernacle, which feel they have been unfairly impacted.
Education Commissioner Lily Laux acknowledged to the Assembly Budget Committee during a hearing in Trenton on April 15 that the state’s school funding model has become outdated and its implementation should be changed. Towns like Robbinsville continue to wait for a permanent solution while scrambling to preserve vital programs for students.
“Educators don’t get into education to cut programs, said Superintendent Pizzo. We’re always looking to expand and do more things for children. We understand that schools cost a lot, but they are a very valuable investment. It’s a problem that goes way beyond Robbinsville. “
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