As every student knows, MLHS is home to their classmates from both Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township alike. Ever since freshman year, students living in both towns have attended class, participated in clubs and sports, and engaged with the community together. But what may be less well-known among the student body is the work that happens behind-the-scenes to make this arrangement possible. In fact, at the start of last year, this longtime arrangement was at risk of collapsing as negotiations between the Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township Boards of Education broke down.
While the issue has since been mainly resolved, this article will outline the background behind the dispute, what’s known about the final agreement, and implications for the two school districts.
Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township’s Send-Receive Agreement
The relationship between the two towns is long-lasting and significant. For more than thirty years, students from Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township have attended MLHS together. With both being relatively small towns, Boonton Township students make up approximately one-third of MLHS enrollment.
In Morris County, this type of situation isn’t uncommon. Several other municipalities also send students to other high schools, or have regional school districts that combine students from a number of different towns. These arrangements are called send-receive agreements, which, in basic terms, occur when a “sending” school district pays another “receiving” school district to educate its students. The agreement comes in the form of a legally binding contract between the two that details the amount of tuition the “sending” district must pay, when this payment occurs, and other responsibilities for the districts such as specific programs. In the case of MLHS, Boonton Township is the “sending” district, and Mountain Lakes the “receiving.”
The last send-receive agreement between the two districts lasted for ten years, and ended with the 2022-23 school year. But when Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township moved to renegotiate and continue this arrangement, significant areas of disagreement arose.
In December 2023, the Boonton Township Board of Education released a letter to the community detailing their grievances with the negotiation process, claiming that Mountain Lakes had proposed a 7.25% tuition increase for Boonton Township students attending MLHS—an increase that they described as “unsustainable.” Additionally, because New Jersey restricts annual property tax increases to 2%, the letter concluded that the increase “far exceed[ed] the amount of money that the Boonton Twp. BOE can legally raise from its taxpayers” and that “Boonton Twp. BOE and its taxpayers will never be able to afford these proposed tuition increases and have no statutory mechanism to do so.” Boonton Township also detailed their counter-proposal to raise tuition by 3% for the 2023-24 school year. Mountain Lakes, they alleged, rejected this proposal and initiated litigation against the board in November.
Following this letter, the Mountain Lakes BOE addressed some of these issues in a January 2024 school board meeting. According to Mountain Lakes, the previous send-receive agreement—which consisted of a flat 2% increase in tuition each year—was not enough to cover the actual cost of educating Boonton Township students, which had increased at a rate higher than 2% annually. The result was a reported $1.9 million shortfall in revenue; essentially, the total payments made by Boonton Township throughout the previous agreement was $1.9 million lower than what it actually cost to “receive” their students. Their tuition increase, therefore, was part of an effort to make up for those costs. Mountain Lakes also denied the claims that Boonton Township had proposed a 3% tuition increase and that they had initiated litigation. The two Boards of Education had scheduled to meet on January 11th, 2024, to continue negotiations.
A little more than a month afterwards, however, talks broke down as the two reached another disagreement. In February 2024, both released statements informing the local community on the status of negotiations. The Mountain Lakes BOE’s read, “In a surprising and most disappointing turn of events, Boonton Township rejected the Board’s counteroffer, withdrew its offer, and abruptly ended the negotiations.” Mountain Lakes alleged that despite agreeing to Boonton Township’s proposed annual 3% tuition increases, Boonton Township had requested that “Mountain Lakes forego all annual adjustments to which it may be entitled,” a change that they were not willing to agree to. These adjustments are essentially part of what is called a “cost per pupil” tuition approach, which Mountain Lakes maintained would allow the district to adjust and/or increase tuition rates if costs were higher than expected—adjustments key to avoiding a situation like the $1.9 million shortfall accumulated during the last agreement.
Boonton Township’s statement, on the other hand, rejected Mountain Lakes’ proposed cost per pupil approach in favor of a fixed annual increase in tuition. They reported that they had offered another ten year agreement, allowing for an annual tuition increase of 3%, which Mountain Lakes accepted but insisted on being able to make adjustments based on cost per pupil—an approach that could mean “an up to $1,000 per student limitation beyond the 3% increase for that year.” Ultimately, Boonton Township quantified, “In Year 1, that could represent a final tuition amount that represents an 8.5% increase over the prior year,” an increase that was unrealistic given the 2% state cap on annual property tax raises. In contrast, Boonton Township’s 3% proposal would “allow for high school fixed and variable costs to remain constant while providing a ceiling to Boonton Township taxpayers on high school costs that do not decrease when enrollment decreases.”
After months of further negotiations, the successor send-receive agreement was approved unanimously by the Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township boards of education in November 2024. Compared to the previous, the new agreement will last for five years instead of ten, and instead of 2% annual increases in tuition, it calls for approximately 3%.
From the Board
The following questions were sent to members of the two districts’ boards of education that oversaw the talks on the new send-receive agreement. Responses are currently pending.
- At the start of 2024, the Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township Boards of Education each put out statements announcing difficulties in the negotiation of a new send-receive agreement. What did you view as the most significant area of disagreement from your end of the negotiations? How did your insight into your respective school district influence that view?
- If a send-receive agreement had not been approved, what would have been the implications for those in your respective school district, as well as for Mountain Lakes/Boonton Township residents at-large?
- It’s easy to get caught up in big global or national events, while losing sight of what happens in your backyard. These negotiations seem to be one of those cases. From your experience being on the board and working on this agreement, how significant of a role does local government play in one’s life, and how would you advise students to stay engaged in that?
- By the end of 2024, the boards met to approve a new send-receive agreement. What elements of your respective school district’s plan were included, and in what areas were compromises necessary?
- How did the final plan differ from previous send-receive contracts between Mountain Lakes and Boonton Township?
- Were there any external factors, such as new legislation from the NJ state government, impacting the school districts that necessitated a different contract? Generally, from your experience on the board, how is your school district impacted by NJ state policy?
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