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BRICK SCHOOL BUDGET PROPOSES NEARLY 10-CENT TAX RATE HIKE
By Keith Hagarty
Calling it the best of a bad situation, the Township Board of Education unveiled the district's $141 million 2008-2009 school budget last week, which calls for a 9.8-cent tax rate increase per $100 of assessed property value on a home.
If approved by voters, the increase would mean a Brick homeowner with a property assessed at $134,000 would pay about $130 more per year.
The overall budget is $7.8 million more than last year, an 8.2 percent increase.
In addition, the district will be asking voters to weigh in on two special questions.
The first question calls for the dedication of $150,000 to hire a district security supervisor and secretary.
The second question asks for $478,500 to upgrade the aging computers and technological equipment currently used throughout the district.
Under state regulations, for any school individual referendum question to pass, it must receive over 60 percent voter approval.
If approved, both referendums would increase the tax rate by 1.3 cents, or about $17 more per year. Should both the budget and the two questions be approved by voters, the tax rate would rise by a total 11.1 cents, or an average residential property tax increase of $149 per year.
The budget's fate will ultimately be decided by voters on April 15, with polls open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
If approved, the budget would be enacted at the beginning of the school year in September. However, if voters reject the budget, it would then be reviewed by the Township Council, where further cuts would be discussed and implemented.
Interim Superintendent of Schools Melindo Persi said the district was faced with a $3.5 million budget shortfall. By finding various budget cuts, particularly the impending close of two schools- Laurelton School for a $24,000 savings, and the Primary Learning Center for another approximate $800,000 in savings- the district was able to help reduce the budget gap.
About $55.4 million is dedicated for instruction, about a $2.6 million increase over last year, or five percent.
The budgeted $2.1 million in salary increases predominantly stem from contractual demands, according to Persi. Despite the 4.7 percent teacher salary increase, nearly two dozen district staff members will either be have their positions eliminated, or leave the district because of retirement. Some of the reduced positions include: five teachers, six classroom aides, three nurses, one librarian, three secretaries, one principal, two assistant principals and one social worker.
"We'll be 22 staff members short next year," Persi cautioned. "That's a sad thing, and it's a difficult thing. It's unfair to this district, in terms of the state aid, whereas if the state had decided to afford us $700,000 more in aid, with salaries going up by 3.7 percent, it would've just given us more (money) to operate. So we had to make some drastic cuts."
However, despite the cuts, Persi is still satisfied that the district was able to maintain its current programs.
Throughout the 2008-2009 budget process, Persi said there were eight priorities which were a top concern: maintaining current programs, enhancing high school offerings, relocating the Primary Learning Center students, hiring an assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, hiring a security officer, replacing textbooks, enhancing terminology and replacing transportation vehicles.
"Transportation vehicles have a specific life, and by the law, they have to be traded in," said Persi. He noted that even though people generally tend to think of summer time as a down-time for the district's fleet of school buses, it is quite the contrary. The buses are still utilized each weekday for various summer programs, traveling over 50 routes throughout the township roadways.
While fiscal tweaks were made to some of the district's programs, the superintendent was proud to see the programs still intact and not directly affecting the classroom.
"Where we had to trim, we trimmed around the edges," said Persi. "Wherever it would not affect direct instruction."
With 25 soon-to-be vacant classrooms at the Primary Learning Center, Persi envisions the building still being a viable commodity for both the district and town.
"The board of education is most interested in making that a facility a revenue-generating facility," he said. "At this point in time, we're exploring the possibility of offering a pre-school program on a tuition basis at that center."
In all likelihood, the center would not be run any longer by the district, said Persi, but by a private entity with the town reaping the benefits.
"It could be a good revenue source for the district," he said.
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