Meg McClenahan + Kerrie Joyce 
The Montclair School District has a $19.6 million budget deficit. The District has already issued over 100 Montclair educators and support staff termination notices to combat the extreme deficit. Most recently, The Montclair School District has cut almost 30 high and middle school student clubs. Keep reading to learn more about what’s going on and which clubs are being cut in Montclair schools.
Tackling the Crisis
The Montclair School District has scheduled a special referendum vote for December 9th, 2025. The district is trying to fix the deficit caused by overspending beyond its means. Two important measures are on the table for approval. The first measure asks for a one-time tax payment to cover the past deficit. The second measure proposes a permanent increase in property taxes to cover the current 2024-2025 deficit and to conduct a forensic audit to investigate the cause of the financial crisis.
Read More: Montclair Public Schools Issue Over 100 Layoff Notices Amid $19.6 Million Budget Crisis
The Clubs Being Cut
In correspondence with The Montclair Girl, Montclair Schools spokesperson Lauren Shears Agnew sent a list of paid and volunteer clubs currently running throughout the district. From that list, 28 clubs were cut across Montclair High School, Glenfield Middle School, and Buzz Aldrin Middle School. Impacted programs included Montclair High School clubs like Friends of Rand Park, Drama Club, and Diversity Club.
Per Montclair Local, students and parents are banding together to continue support for the district’s programs. This includes Montclair High School Senior, Gabrielle Mehta, who is co-president of the creative writing club, and is optimistic about finding funds to support the literary magazine website, The Phoenix. Funding for the website is set to run out in February due to the lack of funds, but students hope to continue publishing their work through donations from alumni and elsewhere.
The full list of cut clubs is as follows:
Montclair High School
- American Field Service
- Amphitheater Editorial
- Chess Club – Team
- Diversity Club
- Natural Hair Project
- Oceanography Club
- Restorative Justice Club
- Art Council
- Audio Squad Director
- Drama
- Fed/Euro Challenge (1)
- Friends of Rand Park
- Future Teachers of America
- Hospitality Club
- International Exchange + NJ Student Exchange
- Lighting
- Literary Magazine
- Montclair Outreach Club
- Mountaineer Business
Buzz Aldrin Middle School
- Drama Vocal
- Drama Set Painting
- Trep$
- Dance Company
- Choir Ensemble
- Drama Choreography
Glenfield Middle School
- Prime Time
- Restorative Justice Club
- Newspaper
Clubs that Remain
Programs that will continue to run on a paid and volunteer basis are as follows:
Montclair High School
- Heart Club
- American Heart Association
- American Sign Language Club
- Ampitheater (Business)
- Ampitheater (Proofing)
- Animal Welfare
- Asian Student Union
- Assistant Marching Band Director
- Astronomy
- Best Buddies
- Black Student Union
- Cards for Hospitalized Kids
- Care for Cancer
- Chemistry Olympics
- Chess Club
- Cooking Opportunities
- Dance Company Fall + Winter
- Debate Club
- DECA
- Director Level 1
- Director Level II
- End the Stigma
- Fed Challenge
- Fiber Arts Club
- Finance Club
- Forefront Club
- French
- Friends of Rand Park
- Future Educators Club
- GSA
- Inclusion Club
- Italian Club
- Jazz Club
- Junior Class
- Key Club
- Latin Club
- Lego Club
- Magic Club
- Marching Band Director
- Mountie College Advancement Initiative
- MHS Documentary Club
- MHS Math League
- Mini-Medical Club (Blue Scrub Club)
- Mock Trial Club
- Model Congress
- Model United Nations
- Montclair STEM Mentor
- Mountaineer
- NHS
- NOW
- Persian Culture Club
- Physics
- Play Directors Fall + Spring
- Poetry Club
Buzz Aldrin Middle School
- AV / Lighting
- Drama
- Jazz Band
- Model Congress
- Model United Nations
- National Junior Honor Society
- Robotics
- Rogate
- Science Olympiad
- Student Council
- Yearbook
See More: Meet The 2025 Hoboken Board of Education Candidates
Glenfield Middle School
- AV/Lighting
- Drama
- Gender + Sexuality Alliance
- Model Congress
- Model United Nations
- National Junior Honor Society
- Robotics
- Science Olympiad
- Student Council
- Yearbook
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