SOUTH ORANGE / MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education approved the proposed preliminary budget for the 2017-18 school year, leaving a more than $500,000 shortfall for the school district to make up, despite the fact that taxes will increase by 3.56 percent and the banked cap from the 2014-15 school year will be used.
At the BOE’s special March 18 meeting, Johanna Wright was the only board member to vote against the proposed budget, which includes $130,532,707 worth of anticipated appropriations and $128,223,444 in estimated revenue — a difference of $2,309,263.
All board members except Wright also voted in favor of using the $970,247 banked cap from 2014-15 which, when added to the district’s $823,744 in adjustments, results in $1,793,991 that can be subtracted from that difference. Still, that leaves a deficit of $515,272.
It also leaves the 3.56 percent tax hike, or a levy of $115,755,202 — while the tax hike technically falls under the 2-percent state-mandated cap, the addition of items such as debt service legally push it higher. Considering that the average assessed value of a home in Maplewood is $396,992 and the tax rate is estimated to be $2.20, the typical resident will pay $8,723 in school taxes — $249 more than last year’s $8,474. In South Orange, where the average assessed home value is $459,258 and the tax rate is estimated to be $2.25, the typical resident will pay $10,353 in school taxes. That is $304 more than the $10,049 they spent last year.
Despite this rise in taxes, several board members expressed their belief that the budget is the best it can possibly be due to the first-time implementation of zero-based budgeting under Superintendent of Schools John Ramos Sr. and business administrator Paul Roth. Second Vice President Madhu Pai said she is never inclined to vote in favor of tax increases, but even she felt comfortable approving this budget due to the work done examining the necessity of every district expense.
“Zero-based budgeting for the first time has really redefined the way we look at additions and cuts,” Pai said, pointing out that most of the 14 additions being proposed were teaching staff while most of the 16 reductions are not classroom related. “That’s pretty amazing. So that gives me hope that we are actually picking at pretty much every single thing that we can look at in terms of efficiencies without touching the classroom.”
Many teaching positions are indeed being added, including six middle school teachers for $650,000, one elementary school teacher for $75,000 and two math-intervention teachers for $150,000. Non-classroom related positions being added include one high school assistant principal for $120,000, a safety and security director for $42,000, and a nurse for $37,500.
Reductions include $93,000 for supplies and $100,000 for textbooks. Positions being reduced include two physical education teachers for $150,000, one science teacher for $75,000 and three world language teachers for $169,000.
But not every part of the budget was readily accepted. Cutting the world language teachers — which in effect eliminates elementary school Spanish and first year Latin at Columbia High School — was something that not every board member was happy about doing.
Wright decried the idea, stressing that children should be taught world languages sooner rather than later. BOE President Elizabeth Baker agreed that the elementary Spanish program has value, even if it is only currently offered to fourth- and fifth-graders once a week. Baker also raised the question of whether doing away with those classes could have a negative effect on the New Jersey Department of Education’s Quality Single Accountability Continuum assessment since the state requires all schools to offer K-12 world language education.
Board member Susie Adamson felt especially passionate about keeping the elementary world language program. When it was her turn to speak, Adamson argued that cutting the program goes against the district’s mission statement of empowering students to pursue their passions. Therefore, she said it should not be a negotiable aspect of the curriculum.
“As we continue to narrow our curriculum, (we) take away from our ability to inspire our students,” Adamson said. “It’s not the right area to backfill. So I would strongly advocate for us to retain this program another year and look at enhancing it with additional funding wherever we can find it.”
To that end, Adamson proposed using the $147,754 in banked cap from the 2015-16 school year in addition to the $970,247 from 2014-15 with the purpose of enhancing the elementary world languages program. That motion was rejected by the rest of the board, however, with Adamson being the only one to vote in its favor. As a result, the $147,754 will remain for future possible use. The board ultimately decided to use the $970,247 in banked cap — which would have expired if not used in the coming school year — elsewhere.
A few members of the public also spoke out in favor of saving the elementary Spanish program. District Spanish teacher Stephen Carberry urged the board to keep it, pointing out that cutting it will only hurt the school district’s overall languages program while saving very little money. In addition, Carberry said it will do a disservice to students.
“We pay much lip service to multiple-intelligence learning, and yet we slowly erase the programs that promote (it),” Carberry said. “The child who is not talented in letter and number intelligence is going to find school a daunting challenge with little opportunity to demonstrate where his or her intelligence lies.”
Rocio Lopez, who teaches Advanced Placement Spanish at CHS, told the board she sees the positive effect elementary Spanish has had on her classes. Lopez said her students scored an average of 3.98 — out of a possible 5 — on the AP Spanish exam last year, which she said was likely among the highest in the school. The program is working, she said, but eliminating it will only prevent South Orange and Maplewood from competing with nearby districts such as West Orange and Livingston. And, she said doing away with it will send a bad message to the community in light of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
Still, other members of the board and administration said cutting the elementary Spanish program is the right move at this point. Ramos said he would like to have classes more than once a week, but that is not financially possible. And with the district facing a deficit, he said one must question whether a program that meets so infrequently is effective enough to keep.
Though she did not like the thought of eliminating elementary Spanish, board member Maureen Jones said holding class once a week is simply not often enough to effectively teach children. Therefore, Jones advocated for cutting the program and “reimagining” the way students learn world language in the district. She said that would entail pursuing grant opportunities like the one Ramos mentioned the district is pursuing to fund a Mandarin course. Otherwise, she said, keeping the program as it is will help no one.
“The budget is unfortunately in really dire straits, and we have to make some really tough decisions,” Jones said. “We really have to think about: What are we doing now? How are we serving our kids? Is it to the best benefit? Are we maximizing our dollars in the best way?”
Fellow board members Donna Smith and Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad expressed the same sentiment, with Lawson-Muhammad stressing that it is time to “disrupt” the existing program so it can become something better. She also challenged the SOMA community to find enough funds to make an impact, pointing out that that it will likely take five times the amount of money the BOE could provide to make a difference in the program.
“Let’s find some money to do something real, because what we’re doing right now isn’t real,” Lawson-Muhammad said. “So if we just keep doing it and making ourselves feel good that one day a week is OK for our kids, then we’re faking ourselves all out.”
Not everyone was convinced reimagining the program is the way to go. While the concept may sound good in theory, BOE student representative Filip Saulean said the real question is whether such a reimagining will ever occur.
Saulean said many items cut from the budget do not find their way back, so he has his doubts.
“I don’t think that reimagining will ever come,” Saulean said. “Then 10 years later, parents are going to be telling their children ‘10 years ago we had world language in the elementary schools and they said they were going to reimagine it, but it never happened.’”
The elementary world language program was not the only issue discussed at the meeting. South Orange resident Elissa Malespina questioned why an assistant principal was necessary at the high school, arguing that the funds the district will spend to hire one could be used to support the world languages program instead. But Ramos said CHS does need an assistant principal to oversee tasks including holistic student discipline and teacher evaluations, pointing out that urban districts often hire an assistant principal for every 500 students in a school. He said CHS currently has more than 2,000 students and three assistant principals, and it would benefit from one more.
Maplewood resident Shari Mayer asked what the school district could do to benefit financially from developments constructed in South Orange and Maplewood, to which Baker answered that board members are already meeting with town officials to discuss upcoming projects and learn about possible tax subsidies. As a result of this dialogue, she said Maplewood Mayor Vic DeLuca took a hands-on role in arranging a partnership between the new Wawa on Springfield Avenue and Seth Boyden Elementary School.
Additionally, Baker said the BOE is starting to pursue fundraising efforts as a way of bringing in even more revenue to the district. She said that during the past month the board has met with parent groups and other potential community partners, including the Achieve Foundation and the Cougar Boosters, to discuss leveraging their ability and expertise to help the district raise money. She said the board has also discussed how PTAs can collectively fundraise instead of raising money for individual schools.
At the same time, Baker said many residents have offered to introduce board members to programs that can bring resources to the district, especially in the areas of anti-bias education and cultural competency. And she promised the board will follow up with them.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s essential work,” Baker said.
Now that the preliminary budget has been passed by the board, it will have to be approved by the county. After that, the BOE will vote on the final budget during its April 24 meeting.
Photos by Sean Quinn
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