TOMS RIVER - Only hours after hundreds of Toms River Regional students, faculty and staff rallied in Trenton to again demand more state education aid, the Board of Education reluctantly adopted a 2019-2020 budget that cuts 77 staff positions while increasing taxes in the four towns that make up the district.

Superintendent David M. Healy said retirements have reduced the number of people who must be laid off to 31.

He said the district will have to lay off staff if Toms River Regional is not successful in its quest to restore $2.8 million in state aid that will be lost in the 2019-2020 school year.

"There is a human impact, in terms of people losing their jobs," Healy said Tuesday night.

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The budget of about $242.3 million is down nearly $7 million from the 2018-2019 spending plan, a reduction of nearly 3 percent.

School taxes for Toms River property owners will increase by about 2.1 cents per $100 of assessed property value, or slightly less than 2 percent.

School taxes would rise by 1.75 cents in South Toms River; 1.48 in Beachwood and 1.49 in Pine Beach, all per $100 of assessed property value

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"It pains all of us to vote 'yes' on a budget that has to eliminate staff positions," board member Jennifer Howe said. She said she is hopeful that Toms River's efforts to convince state legislators to restore some state aid will pay off.

The board voted unanimously to approve the budget.

Toms River taxpayers pay more than 90 percent of the tax levy to support the regional district, which has about 16,000 students.

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When retirements are included, the budget cuts 58 teaching jobs, 12 secretarial positions, six facilities jobs and one administrative position. The budget also eliminates 55 assistant coaching positions for sports teams throughout the district, and cuts 10 percent from accounts for supplies and textbooks.

Under the 2019-2020 budget introduced Wednesday, the owner of a home assessed at $273,000, Toms River's average, would pay about $58 more a year in school taxes.

In South Toms River, a homeowner whose house is assessed at $165,200 would pay about $29 more a year; Beachwood, a home assessed at $204,100 would pay $30 more, and in Pine Beach, a home assessed at $269,400 would pay $40 more.

On Tuesday, more than 400 Toms River Regional students, faculty and staff traveled to Trenton to protest state education aid cuts. Healy talks about the Trenton protest in the video above this story.

Toms River students delivered more than 30,000 letters about the potential impact of reduced state aid to state Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, who chairs the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

The letters were written by students, faculty and administrators, as well as parents, grandparents and residents of the four towns that make up the regional district.

Tuesday marked the second trip to Trenton by large numbers of Toms River Regional students, faculty, school board members, administrators and residents.

They were joined outside the Statehouse by representatives from some of the more than 70 districts that are part of the "Support Our Students" group and have been lobbying for changes in "S2," the new state education funding formula. Toms River Councilman Maurice B. "Mo" Hill Jr. also attended the rally.

On March 5, 27 busloads of Toms River Regional students and supporters traveled to Trenton to join with other districts in a massive protest of state aid cuts.

The new funding formula reallocates state aid to districts that have seen rapid growth in student populations, such as Freehold Borough, and away from districts — including Toms River, Middletown and Brick — where the number of pupils has declined or remained steady.

In Ocean County, Lakewood was notified that it would receive nearly $30 million more in state aid for the 2019-2020 school year. But most districts at the Shore will see reductions in aid.

Last year, when Toms River Regional's state aid was cut by $2.3 million, the school board was able to avoid draconian cuts by using money from Toms River Regional's surplus and maintenance accounts to make up the difference.

See photos from the March 5 protest outside the Statehouse in the gallery below.

The school board voted unanimously last fall to join other districts in a lawsuit against state Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet, whose department oversees the distribution of state education funds.

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Healy said Tuesday that Toms River Regional could lose more than $80 million in state aid over the next six years, a devastating reduction in funding that could lead to hundreds of staff cuts, increased class sizes and loss of programs.

But the superintendent remains hopeful that state legislators will consider restoring the $2.8 million aid cut.

"If we receive the $2.8 million, that would save those 31 positions," Healy said.

Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050, @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com