MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — There is less than a month left before the South Orange-Maplewood Board of Education holds a hearing and final vote on the 2015-2016 school district budget. The board has been debating the budget for a few months and will hold its final vote at its meeting Monday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m.
But it is not too late for residents to be heard; voice an opinion at the April 27 hearing or send an email to budget@somsd.k12.nj.us.
On Monday, March 16, the BOE approved a $123.5 million budget for the 2015-2016 school year, though the vote was far from unanimous. The board was split nearly down the middle with a 5-4 vote, but ultimately decided to OK a 2.41-percent operating budget tax levy increase. And while they seemed reticent to raise taxes again, the majority of the members felt it was necessary.
Voting in favor of the increase were Elizabeth Baker, Jeffrey Bennett, Beth Daugherty, Maureen Jones and Stephanie Lawson-Muhammad; voting against the increase were board President Wayne Eastman, first Vice President Madhu Pai, second Vice President Johanna Wright and Donna Smith.
Originally, at the March 12 budget meeting, the BOE had discussed imposing a 2.31-percent operating budget tax levy, but on March 16, $110,000 was added to the budget, bringing the operating budget tax levy up to 2.41 percent. This addition, however, will likely not save world languages in the elementary school, a program currently on the 2015-2016 chopping block.
According to proposed budget documents, the average Maplewood home will pay $121 per year in school taxes and the average South Orange home will pay $253 per year in school taxes.
While the board members agree that cuts must be made, especially as costs and overall enrollment continue to rise, they disagree as to where those cuts should be made. At the March 16 meeting, Baker felt that cuts to the elementary schools, specifically Seth Boyden and Clinton schools, were unjustifiable, whereas Daugherty called Columbia High School the district’s “flagship” and said the high school must be maintained as a bastion of superior learning. Rather than cut at one or the other, Daugherty suggested taking a “critical look” at the high school’s offerings to find efficiencies, which would ultimately protect some programs at the elementary schools.
As per state law, the school board had to have a final budget number to send to the county superintendent for approval by March 20, forcing a vote on the budget number before all the ins-and-outs of the budget are decided. Eastman was careful to explain that the board was merely voting on the number, and not the final budget. The proposed budget is still flexible and subject to change.
According to the proposed budget documents, which can be found on the district website at www.somsd.k12.nj.us, the largest portion of the budget’s revenue — approximately 88 percent — will be taken from the local tax levy. According to the documents, when comparing the 2015-2016 school year to the current 2014-2015 school year, the district is expecting to receive more revenue from taxes, capital reserve, fund balance, tuition thanks to the Montrose School, state and federal grants, and sources such as summer school, field trips, etc.
There will be a decrease in debt-service funds; according to business Administrator Cheryl Schneider at the meeting, the district has no wiggle-room when it comes to this number due to refunded bonds, the timing of the debt service and debt service aid as it relates to Montrose. The district expects state aid neither to increase nor to decrease next school year.
As usual, the majority of the budget’s expenses will be going toward salaries and health benefits, which comprise approximately 63 percent of expenses. Additionally, approximately 10 percent of the district’s budget will go toward tuition to send children to out-of-district schools when their needs cannot be met within the district. The rest of the expenses in the budget — boiled down to basics — is filled out by energy costs, transportation, textbooks and supplies, maintenance, and security.
While the district is cutting world languages in the elementary school and looking to restructure various other programs to find efficiencies, the district is also reducing its full time educator positions overall by 3.4 positions. The district is adding 8.6 full time educators — five at Montrose, including a director, nurse, secretary and at least two pre-K teachers; a classroom teacher at each middle school; and 0.8 of a physical education teacher at each middle school.
Also, the district is losing 12 full time educators — one high school guidance counselor to retirement; two secretaries, one through retirement and the other to be offset by the new secretary position at Montrose; one gifted and talented teacher through program restructuring; one central office position through restructuring, though the method of restructuring is still being discussed; two elementary classroom teachers; the three elementary world language teachers, due to the program being eliminated; one high school classroom teacher through efficiencies; and one arts teacher, likely at the elementary school level. According to Schneider, these changes are being made due to increased enrollment in the middle and high schools, and decreased enrollment in the elementary schools.
These details, however, can be changed before the April 27 hearing and action meeting; residents with questions or concerns should reach out to the board.