Lt. Gov. Discusses School Funding, Tenure, Regionalization

With little fanfare, Deputy Gov. Kim Guadagno arrived in Bernardsville Friday afternoon to meet with local government and school officials for some give and take on such issues as state aid, tenure reform, taxpayer relief and state-imposed mandates on school districts.

Overall, municipal officials from Bernardsville, Far Hills and Bedminster, along with Donna Coons, the president of the Somerset Hills Regional Board of Education, said they want Gov. Chris Christie to continue his efforts for school reform in areas such as tenure and merit pay for teachers.

The meeting, called on 48-hours notice and held in the Somerset Hills school administration building in Bernardsville, is among the first few in what Guadagno said will be her continuing series of outreach meetings around the state. She said the location was chosen largely based on her day's itinerary.

Bedminster Township Committeewoman Sally Rubin said she thought the session was a great opportunity to offer input from both sides.

In response to a question, Guadagno and the other officials even addressed a topic that has been kicked back and forth for several years in Bernards Township and the Somerset Hills Regional School District, based in Bernardsville.

Guadagno assured those present that the governor, and the state, have no intention of forcing school districts to merge or regionalize against their will.

Coons said two recent studies, following others, have shown that there would be no financial benefit from joining the Bernards Township and Somerset Hills school districts into one larger school system.

However, Coons said the neighboring school systems have been working to share services and even staff (see video) without actually regionalizing.

Far Hill Mayor Paul Vallone said sharing services is a good way to reduce spending in the local school budget without impacting the students' education.

How to save taxpayer money was a primary focus of the meeting.

"I think we need more leverage with unions in our ability to negotiate—and that would extend to our municipalities as well," Rubin said during the discussion. She pointed out that high unemployment and wage freezes, or pay cuts, continue for many area residents.

"In the business sector, merit pay is utilized, and there's no reason why in the education field, it can't be as well provided that you have a proper evaluation of the teacher," Vallone said.

Vallone said there is no question that it has helped the Somerset Hills school district to receive the $680,775 in state school aid when the governor in mid-July announced a statewide distribution of additional school aid. The Somerset Hills district is funded on a formula basis by Bernardsville, Far Hills and Peapack-Gladstone, while Bedminster pays tuition to send its high school students to Bernards High in Bernardsville.

When asked for a breakdown by Guadagno, Coons said the Somerset Hills School District plans to spend a little more than $350,000 to fill a shortfall created because the district has yet to receive spent extraordinary aid for special education, as had been expected.

The Somerset Hills school board has yet to meet to make a decision, but Coons said the remainder of the extra funding received in July will likely be used to reduce the tax levy in the three municipalities. However, the tax relief probably will be implemented for the 2012-13 school budget, Coons said.

Another topic raised by Guadagno that has been the focus of a task force in Bernards Township is what she said is the governor's office's push to cut back on red tape, including state educational mandates that are required, but not funded, by the state.

She said officials in towns who are interested in that initiative should contact her office, or the state Department of Education.