2012-13 School Budget, Solar Panels on School Roofs, on Monday Agenda

Tonight, Monday, is the public's chance to comment on the proposed 2012-13 school budget before it is placed before the for a vote for final approval.

Another along with opportunities for the public and school board members to give input, is on the agenda for Monday night's scheduled board meeting at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria at the

Afterward, the $93.266 million school budget, , will be considered for final adoption by the school board.

The $75,856,316 taxpayer contribution to next year's budget will not be placed on a public ballot this April, since the to take advantage of a new state option for school districts. Under that option, boards of education around the state could vote to move the election for school candidates to November, and keep annual tax levy increases to 2 percent or less.

The proposed budget includes a two percent increase in the general fund budget that would add $182 onto an average township home assessed at $577,394, according to the school district's figures.

Since debt service is going down slightly the overall budget increase from the current school year would be 1.85 percent, according to figures in a budget presentation on March 12. The local school tax rate on township property assessments would increase from about $1.24 to $1.28, said School Business Administrator Nick Markarian.

Somerset County already has approved the spending plan, and the school board actually will be voting on the tax levy, Markarian said last week.

The Bernards schoolsoon after learning that state aid would be increased to $3 million for next year, an increase from about $2.4 million in 2011-12.

School officials said that night, and in the later budget presentation, that all programs would be maintained in next year's school budget.

The school board had discussed, but not voted on March 12, whether to allocate about $450,000 to revive an enrichment program and Spanish classes in elementary schools, or whether to add that money to capital improvement projects for repairs, maintenance projects and the replacement of equipment at various schools in the district.

Plans to install solar panels on school roofs

Also on the Monday agenda, the board is slated to again discuss a joint proposal with Somerset County to install solar panels on the roofs of and the middle school.

School officials said at the last meeting that the school district is no longer considering a proposal, discussed last year, to also install panels on parking canopies at the two schools and in a field by

The school district also was unable to get a project off the ground that would have entailed working with its own architect to find a solar vendor to install panels on school property.