Jersey City's public-school district would be the biggest loser statewide if a new school funding plan becomes law.

The 28,000-student district would see its state aid dip by $8.5 million under a plan floated by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto. The next biggest cut would be in Toms River, which would see a $3.3 million reduction in state aid.

The plan, which would need the blessing of Gov. Chris Christie, has alarmed local school officials. Schools Superintendent Marcia V. Lyles said in an interview today she is "obviously very concerned."

"We are already documented as being $80 million under adequacy," Lyles said. "To get cut even further is going to be a major hardship for us."

Lyles' reference to "under adequacy" refers to what the state calls an adequacy budget. That's the amount each district would have to spend to provide a "thorough and efficient education" to every student. Sweeney has said Jersey City spends $90 million less than its adequacy budget.

The plan, which Sweeney and Prieto announced on Wednesday, would give $146 million in additional aid to districts statewide that are underfunded and take away a form of funding called adjustment aid from some districts. Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has pitched the plan as a "landmark first step" toward fully funding every district in the state.

"This is a win for the parents and children in districts like Kingsway and Chesterfield, Paterson and Bayonne that have been grappling with staff and program cuts because of the state's failure to provide the state aid it should," he said in a joint statement he issued with Prieto.

Local concern is two-pronged. School officials are fretting about how to come up with an additional $8.5 million and they are worried about having to do it almost immediately. If signed into law by Christie, the plan would take effect for the upcoming school year, for which there is already a $681 million adopted budget.

Joel Torres, the school board president, said the Sweeney/Prieto compromise is "not a fair plan."

"It's kind of upsetting," Torres said. "The district has to rush and figure out ... where to get its funding from."

Jersey City is one of three Hudson County towns facing funding cuts. Hoboken's district would see its state aid cut by $825,793, Weehawken's by $216,977.

Bayonne would be the biggest winner, with an extra $3.2 million, followed by Kearny, $2.5 million; Union City, $2.4 million; West New York, $1.7 million; North Bergen, $1.4 million; Guttenberg, $770,068; and East Newark, Harrison, Hudson County vocational schools and Secaucus all gaining less than $200,000.

One local Democrat said the plan is extreme for Jersey City but it could have been worse. The sentiment around the state is that Jersey City, where local school taxes bring in $114 million compared to $421 million in state aid, has been getting too much help from taxpayers statewide. GOP lawmakers have publicly blasted city officials for handing out long-term tax abatements, which until recently have provided zero school funding, while seeking additional state aid for its schools.

While the possibility of losing $8.5 million overnight seems bad, the Democrat said, "It's not as bad as some of these other proposals." A plan floated by Christie earlier this year would have slashed $217 million from the district's budget, while an earlier plan backed by Sweeney could have led to a gradual loss of $114 million.

Ron Greco, president of the local teachers union the Jersey City Education Association, said he fears the district would have to slash jobs to come up with the $8.5 million it was counting on from the state. The district employs nearly 3,000 teachers.

"It's a significant chunk of money," Greco said. "The district is cash-strapped as it is."

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.