First, Lakewood School District received an extra $15 million in school funding through some special treatment in the governor’s proposed education budget.

Now, the state says the district should get millions more thanks to a new category of state aid called “provisional stabilization aid.” As it turns out, though, Lakewood is the only school district in the state eligible to receive “provisional stabilization aid” aid this year.

The result? Another $15 million in proposed aid for a district already getting more than it is technically owed according to the state’s funding formula and that spends much of its money on special education and busing for private school students.

The money was a surprise outside of Lakewood because it wasn’t mentioned in Gov. Phil Murphy’s initial budget proposal. Lakewood officials announced the extra aid on Tuesday, and the state Department of Education confirmed in a statement Thursday evening that only Lakewood will benefit from the new form of funding, which still needs legislative approval.

But the state stopped short of explaining how Lakewood qualifies for the new funding or why the new category was introduced. Those details will be revealed when Murphy’s full budget plan is published in the coming days, said Mike Yaple, spokesman for the Department of Education.

Combined, the two streams of special aid would give Lakewood $30 million more in state funding, helping the cash-strapped district avoid taking another state loan. However, much of the money will go toward services for more than 30,000 Lakewood children attending Jewish yeshivas, increasing scrutiny of the district’s finances and the state’s school funding system.

With New Jersey slashing funding for nearly 200 school districts, extra spending anywhere else calls for an explanation, said David Healy, superintendent in Toms River, which is facing a $2.7 million reduction in state aid this year.

“It’s a little bit disheartening, and it’s certainly compromising further the credibility of the process," said Healy, who said his comments are about the state’s method of school funding and are not about Lakewood.

With five times more students in private schools than public schools, Lakewood is an anomaly among New Jersey school districts. The township’s booming Orthodox Jewish population sends children to local private schools, but the district is still required to pay for certain busing and special education costs for those students, straining district resources.

That’s left local officials facing an annual budget nightmare and pleading for a series of state loans to avoid devastating cuts to the public schools, where most students come from low-income families.

Murphy’s administration appears intent on breaking that cycle.

Prior to the announcement of the stabilization aid, Lakewood was already set to gain $14.9 million from its 2018-19 state funding, a 63 percent increase and the largest hike of any district in the state.

The governor’s budget gave Lakewood a $6.1 million increase in transportation aid and an $8.9 million hike in special education aid, money that appeared in the proposed budget as though it was tied to the school funding formula.

But an NJ Advance Media analysis found that most other districts were flat funded in those categories, and the state later confirmed the money is “supplemental aid” to help Lakewood accommodate transportation and special education costs for private school students.

The maneuver was questioned by school funding observers, who wondered how the state calculated the increases and why the money wasn’t labeled as supplemental.

Officials in Lakewood say the money is all desperately needed, regardless of the source.

State law requires districts to provide busing to private schools, within certain parameters, and more than 20,000 Lakewood children qualify, according to the district. Special education costs have also skyrocketed as the district has controversially labeled hundreds of students as special education and placed them in private schools.

Those special costs tally more than $50 million a year, forcing Lakewood to borrow more than $40 million from the state over recent years.

Extra state funding will help the district spare the public schools from deep cuts, even if some of it goes toward services for private school students, said Michael Inzelbuch, the school board’s attorney.

The state has an obligation to make sure all children receive the education and services they deserve, Yaple said.

“And this budget proposal reflects that responsibility,” he said.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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