WOOLWICH TWP. -  The New Jersey Supreme Court rejected Kingsway School District's petition to reopen the Abbott v. Burke fair funding case days after the school officially petitioned to join.  

On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that they would not accept the school's application under the framework of the Abbot lawsuits.

"Although we are disappointed by today's ruling, we will not be deterred and we will continue the fight to bring equal funding to all students," said Superintendent Dr. James J. Lavender in a press release.

The ruling came roughly two weeks after Lavender and the Kingsway district decided to take a bold stand and join the lawsuit in late January. Lavender announced they would join the petition after a group of state senators held a hearing at Kingsway to discuss fair funding, or lack thereof, with districts across the state.

Lavender said Kingsway is a historically underfunded school district and that he hoped joining the suit would force Gov. Chris Chrsitie to follow the state's 2008 school funding formula.

By not following the formula, Kingsway's students have been "deprived" of millions of dollars in school annually, he said.

"We remain convinced that each student, regardless of whether they attend the smallest borough district or the largest regional district, has the same fundamental and constitutional right to a thorough and efficient public education as any other student in New Jersey, no matter where they go to school," Lavender continued in the press release.

Although this ruling wasn't what the district had hoped, the Supreme Court invited Kingsway School District to file its application through the trial courts for further actions.

The district has not made any decision on its next step yet. 

Caitlyn Stulpin may be reached at cstulpin@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitstulpin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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