Politics & Government

Teachers May Be Added in Approved Budget

This is the first year in which voters do not get a chance to approve or deny local taxation to support the school system.

Instead of being placed on a public ballot for a yes or no vote, the 2012-13 school budget received public comments from two residents on Monday before the gave final approval to a $93.26-million spending plan for next year.

The approved budget includes a 2 percent increase in the general fund budget that would add $182 onto an average township home assessed at $577,394, according to school figures. New state guidelines advanced by the governor this year give school districts the option of forgoing a public vote on the next year's school budget if local school tax increases don't exceed 2 percent, and if the election for school board candidates is moved to November.

The board had   As a result, board members on Monday unanimously approved a $75,856,316 taxpayer contribution to the 2012-12 next year's budget, following comments by the public and board members.

Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The board did not make a decision, however, on whether to spend part of funds that might otherwise go toward facilities repairs and upgrades, many long delayed, on one or more of three proposals that would affect elementary classrooms.

Two of the proposals, call for the reinstatement of the elementary grade enrichment program and an elementary school Spanish program, both of which were cut a few years ago due to budget constraints. Each program would cost about $230,000, to include the hiring of four teachers, one for each elementary school, along with some materials and rewriting of the curriculum.

Find out what's happening in Basking Ridgewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Those programs were put on the back burner for now, however, and board members heard another proposal by Director of Curriculum Sean Siet about the possibility of hiring additional teachers to reduce class sizes in elementary schools, some of which he said have been experiencing higher percentages of students ranked as "partially proficient" in standardized NJ ASK tests.

For example, Siet said average class sizes at the have risen to 25.5 students per class at the second grade level; 25.75 students for the third grade; and 25.75 students in that school's fifth grade.

Depending on where teachers are needed in the schools, hiring some extra classroom faculty for next year might cost between about $200,000-plus to $300,000, School Business Administrator Nick Markarian said.

Schools Superintendent Valerie Goger said student enrollment usually isn't certain until August, since some families move into town over the summer.

Board member Bill Koch was one of the school board representatives who said that he would prefer to fund extra classroom teachers rather than teachers for an enrichment program or a Spanish class that would give students limited exposure to the language.

Koch said that the district has about $14 million worth of capital projects that must be addressed over the next several years. He said he is "leery" of tapping into a $1 million maintenance fund, as suggested, to fund the extra programs. But he said the district would get "more bang for the buck" by hiring classroom teachers where needed.

If enrollment in elementary schools declines in the coming years, as predicted, Koch noted that the number of teachers can be pared through attrition.

Board member Elaine Kusel said that she prefers to put the district's money into the classroom, and she would someday like to see the Spanish program reinstated. "It's something that prepares the students for the future," she said.

During the public-comment session, parent Michelle Coppola noted that students at the William Annin Middle School had continued strong state test scores despite larger class sizes. With that in mind, she suggested that perhaps the district might consider hiring a reading specialist for the elementary schools.

Tim Ingling, a parent and also a former school board candidate, said he agreed with board members who favored capital appropriations, especially since he said school buildings had experienced flooding in the past year's storms.

As for foreign languages in the elementary school, Ingling said the district instead should "step up grammar."

"We have children who don't know English," he said.

Markarian said the board can chose whether to allocate money for programs in the future, but a vote on the final figures was needed on Monday night.

Presentations on Monday and at previous board meetings said that the 2012-13 budget will maintain all programs for next year, including a nine-day period at , a full-day kindergarten program and the team model at

Since debt service is going down slightly the overall budget increase from the current school year would be 1.87 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, Markarian said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here