Field hockey and gymnastics saved after students spoke; summer enrichment was not

What happened

The tentative 2026-2027 budget presented on March 25, 2026 proposed eliminating the high school field hockey and gymnastics programmes, cutting assistant coaches, ending the Summer Jump Ahead academic enrichment programme, consolidating bus routes and reducing high school late-run buses, for about $1 million of savings. At the April 30 budget hearing five speakers - students and parents among them - asked for the sports back, and the record of that hearing states that the Piscataway High School field hockey and gymnastics programmes will be restored within the budget as presented. The May committee report confirms the girls field hockey and gymnastics teams were restored within the existing budget structure. The Summer Jump Ahead and Academic Enrichment programme, a tutorial and enrichment programme running from pre-K through grade 11, does not appear in any collected record as restored.

Why it matters to families

Two teams came back because students turned up and asked, which is a useful thing for families to know about how this board works. But the same list also removed a summer tutoring and enrichment programme for pre-K to grade 11 students and cut back late buses at the high school - the ones students on after-school activities rely on to get home - and those did not come back.

The evidence

The tentative budget presentation lists the eliminations - Jump Ahead, field hockey and gymnastics, assistant coach reductions, postponed technology upgrades and consolidated transport routes - against about $1 million in projected savings. The April 30, 2026 minutes record the five public speakers and state that the field hockey and gymnastics programmes will be restored within the budget presented. The May 2026 committee report repeats that the teams were restored within the existing budget structure. The March 2026 committee report records that high school late-run buses will be reduced and other routes consolidated. The 2025-2026 budget book describes Summer Jump Ahead as a tutorial and enrichment programme for grades pre-K to 11.

The source