The proposal by the Hudson County Schools of Technology (HCST) to charge municipal tuition fees to school districts across the county is “dead in the water,” according to two commissioners familiar with the situation who spoke to HCV.
By Dan Israel/Hudson County View
“The HCST charging local districts tuition is not occurring for the 2026-2027 school year,” Kopacz, an assistant superintendent at the Bayonne Public Schools, said.
“I would like to thank County Executive Craig Guy and his team for listening to stakeholders and once again making the best decision for all students attending schools in Hudson County.”
Hudson County Commissioner Bill O’Dea (D-2) indicated that the HCST will figure out their financial woes in house.
“There’s not going to be any tuition charge. They’re just working out financially what they need to do to fill that budget gap,” he stated.
According to O’Dea, the proposal was universally disliked by the mayors, the board of commissioners, and Guy.
Conversations last week between stakeholders including Kopacz, who is the Education Committee Chair on the Board of Commissioners, indicated that the idea was going nowhere fast.
O’Dea, Kopacz, and Guy have previously told HCV how they were working to stop the proposed charges to each school district.
Under the plan, school districts that send students to HCST schools would have to pay HCST tuition to the tune of thousands of dollars per student per year to close an at least $11 million budget deficit for the upcoming 2026-2027 school year budget.
Guy first announced publicly that HCST was proposing charging school districts in Hudson County the tuition fees at the February 24th board of commissioners caucus meeting
. He said that HCST was suggesting either charging those fees or raising taxes in the county budget by nearly $10 million to address their financial situation.
According to Guy, the county was left in the dark as to the financial crisis at HCST until the school board initiated a forensic audit by a third-party firm, which they are still awaiting the results of.
O’Dea added that the initial proposal would see an estimated $6,000 per student per year charged to each school district that sends students to HCST schools, noting the financial dilemma was in part because they didn’t pay medical bills for nearly a year.
O’Dea said the estimated impact on Jersey City would be nearly $6.8 million barring any significant increase in state aid. He said that the district doesn’t receive state aid for students who attend the county vocational schools, to the tune of $18,000 per student.
Earlier this month, Guy told HCV he was working with involved stakeholders, including all mayors and county commissioners, toward a compromise solution.
O’Dea also indicated at the time that discussion had seen the municipal tuition fees proposal by HCST drop to $3,000 per student per year.
“They’re not looking to get rid of any staff people, including people that may not be necessary. They’re not education related, but meanwhile, they’ve cut out all the after school programs for kids,” he said of their current fiscal dilemma.
“Kids suffer. No looking for waste in government. The kids get punished first so that way they go and blame the politicians.”
O’Dea feels that they need a fiscal monitor in place once the audit is complete, and will propose such a measure at the appropriate time. He wants to make sure whatever cuts are made to close the budget gap doesn’t impact educational and afters chool programs further.
“They still have a budget gap, and nobody wants to lay off educational staff. That would hurt our kids. But so does eliminating after school programs. That’s part of what makes a high school experience,” he added.
At last week’s commissioners meeting, O’Dea stated that he also wanted to establish a committee to investigate the financial situation at HCST. He said, however, he was affording them a courtesy by letting them complete the ongoing audit first.
“I don’t think we will have to do a ‘quote unquote’ formal investigation, but I think that I’ll ask that the chairman appoint a committee that will then meet with the county ececutive and members of the school board and have real discussions as to what the forensic audit suggests, how is it going to be done, and how we make sure that things like after school programs that kids rely on aren’t eliminated,” O’Dea detailed.
“ … Once those have been taken out, that’s going to have a negative effect on those young men and women getting into the best colleges and universities. Beyond that, it could potentially affect the scholarship that they may be able to receive.”
What decision was made regarding HCST charging local districts tuition for the 2026–2027 school year?