The Lakewood Township School District has introduced a 2026-27 general fund budget that totals roughly $323.9 million and lists a state aid loan of about $138.2 million as a revenue source, according to the district’s advertised budget and the introduced budget presentation dated March 25, 2026.

The district’s external auditor separately reported, in a report dated January 12, 2026, that there is “substantial doubt” about the district’s ability to continue as a going concern.

A public hearing on the budget was scheduled for Wednesday, April 29, 2026 at the Lakewood High School Commons, according to the advertised budget notice. The reviewed documents predate the hearing and do not record its outcome.

The numbers in the budget

The introduced budget presentation lists total proposed general fund appropriations of $323,920,210 for the 2026-27 school year, an increase of $20,059,361, or 6.60%, over the 2025-26 adopted budget. The advertised budget separately shows total expenditures across all funds — general fund plus federal and state grants and debt service — at $427,137,124.

The single largest line item is out-of-district tuition — the cost of educating Lakewood resident students placed in other public or private schools. The advertised budget lists out-of-district tuition at $94,054,887 for 2026-27, up from $83,937,166 in the 2025-26 revised budget.

The introduced presentation lists health benefits rising from $30,542,717 to $40,070,692, an increase of 31.20%, and a separate “Additional Tax Levy: Health Insurance” line rising from $1,039,487 to $4,914,798.

The total proposed tax levy is $125,651,379, an increase of 6.16% over the prior year, according to the presentation’s Tax Levy Comparison Chart. For a home assessed at $500,000, the presentation estimates the combined school tax impact would rise by about $139 a year, or roughly $11.63 a month.

The state aid loan

The advertised budget lists “Department of Education Loan Against State Aid” of $138,184,006 as a revenue source for 2026-27, up from $100,004,409 in the 2025-26 revised budget. (The introduced presentation’s historical loan table separately lists the 2025-26 loan at $85,000,000; the documents do not reconcile the two figures.) This category — referred to in the district’s presentation as “Advance State Aid Needed” — is the amount Lakewood is asking the state to lend the district to balance the budget.

According to the historical loan schedule in the introduced budget presentation, Lakewood has taken state aid loans every year since 2014-15 except 2021-22. The schedule projects an outstanding loan balance of $231,970,763 across all years after the 2026-27 repayments are made.

The presentation lists loan repayment for 2026-27 at $37,418,106, a 32.21% increase over the prior year.

In the “Next Steps” section, the presentation states that “a final decision by the DOE on the amount of the State Aid Loan may not be made in time for the Public Hearing” and that “a Final Budget may not be approved until early 2027.” DOE refers to the New Jersey Department of Education.

The audit findings

The Auditor’s Management Report, prepared by Holman Frenia Allison, P.C. and dated January 12, 2026, covers the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025.

Under the heading “Going Concern Doubt,” the report states: “The School District has a substantial doubt for continuing as a Going Concern. For more information, please see Note 22 of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.”

The report also issued Finding 2025-001, which states: “During our audit, as of the date of our report, we noted that the Department of Education has yet to approve the School District’s 2025-2026 budget.” The auditor recommended that the district “obtain timely approval from the Department of Education, specifically in regards to the amount of the Advanced Loan they will anticipate.”

The auditor recorded one other finding, 2025-002, regarding the food service program’s cash reserves.

What happens next

According to the introduced budget presentation, the budget was to be filed with the Ocean County Superintendent of Schools by March 27, 2026. The County Superintendent reviews and approves the budget for advertising prior to the April 29, 2026 public hearing.

The presentation states that the public hearing budget “may differ from the Introduced Budget” based on review by the County Superintendent, the DOE, and the State Monitors assigned to Lakewood. The presentation also states that the size of the state aid loan, and final budget approval, may not be settled until after the 2025-26 audit is completed.

This article is based on documents posted by the Lakewood Public Schools that predate the April 29, 2026 public hearing. The outcome of that hearing and the current state of Department of Education action on the 2025-26 and 2026-27 budgets are not reflected in those documents and would require direct confirmation from the district or the DOE. The article will be updated when post-hearing records are released.