School Officials Face Grim Budget Reality, Brace for Long-Term Changes

After losing $1.6 million in surplus funds this year, $3.9 million in state aid for 2010-11 and then through the defeated school budget process, Board of Education officials faced what they called the grim reality of a changing school system.

Bernards Superintendent Valerie Goger gave a presentation on the budget, recommending specific program cuts to meet the overall budget amount mandated by the Township Committee last week. Goger presented a handful of budget projections with assumptions built on steady state aid at the level the school district received this year. By her account, Bernards schools will likely need to cut $2.2 million in 2010-11, $1.3 million in 2011-12, $600,000 in 2012-13 and $400,000 in 2013-14."We're assuming a flat aid of $847,000," Goger said, which was this year's number. "If that goes to zero, we can add $847,000 to each of those last three years going out."

"Education in Bernards Township is not going to be in four years what it is today," Goger said. "We can no longer afford the type of education we are delivering in the way we are delivering it. Those are the grim realities."

In addition to recommending specific cuts for 2010-11, the superintendent said that the schools must look at substantially changing the education models used in all of the district's schools to yield significant savings. Goger said that long time potential cuts, such as full-day Kindergarten and the nine-period day at Ridge High School, will in all likelihood have to be made next year. "I don't see how we can maintain [them]," she said.

New School Cuts

For the 2010-11 school year, the switch to half-day Kindergarten was opposed by all of the Board of Education members, despite being recommended by the administration. Most of the members felt that there was not enough time for parents to prepare for the switch if the program was altered this May or June. Board President Susan Carlsson said that the program will definitely have to go in the following year. "I don't think this is the year to do it, but we're not bluffing this time. I don't see a magic bullet or money falling out of the sky, as far as I can see we will have half-day Kindergarten in 2011-12," Carlsson said.

The Board heard a number of recommended cuts to reach $800,000 in savings from Goger, including the following list.

• Reducing Kindergarten to half day – $280,000 in savings
• Eliminating third and fourth grade strings and band – $60,000
• Eliminate two elementary assistant principal positions – $138,000
• Reduce library aides – $16,000
• Postpone new library book purchases – $50,000
• Eliminate one data technology position – $55,000
• Eliminate REACH enrichment program in middle school – $30,000
• Reduce extracurricular positions – $30,000
• Reduce maintenance budget – $50,000
• Postpone the purchase of some new textbooks – $76,000
• Postpone some curriculum writing and updating – $17,000
• Reduce training, use fewer substitutes – $18,000

The list totals to a projected $820,000 in savings. Combined with six new notices of retirement with projected savings of $180,000 from replacing the veteran teachers with those lower on the pay scale, the district has about $200,000 in wiggle room before cuts are finalized.

Several Board of Education members opposed cuts to the elementary strings and band program, which eliminate those classes for third and fourth grade students. "I feel very strongly about keeping the instrumental music program," Board member Robin McKeon said. "There are a lot of interesting arguments for starting kids younger, and I think it would really mess up the program."

Carlsson and Board members Bill Koch, Bev Darvin Cwerner and Audrey Sherwyn Cohen expressed reservations about eliminating the assistant principal positions as well. Currently, each of the elementary schools, which are about 100-150 students larger than the average elementary schools in the state, according to Goger, have one assistant principal each. The cut would necessitate sharing assistant principals across different schools. Their current role entails dealing with issues of special education, discipline, intervention and referral services, guidance, coordinating field trips, working with aides, handling busing procedures, teacher observations and crisis management, including lockdowns and emergency procedures, as well as a variety of other tasks, according to the superintendent. The new sharing system has not been fully fleshed out, which concerned some of the Board members.

Board member Ken Wilke was the only member to present his own list of potential areas to cut. Wilke said Goger's presentation was "very sobering," but, "I don't know if I've yet come to the same reality as she has. I'd like to think there is still something we can find in the budget for extra savings."

Wilke recommended looking at cutting nursing costs throughout the district, currently estimated at $700,000 per year. Wilke also suggested potential cuts to guidance secretaries, media technology investments, utilities, communications including phone services, grounds keeping and a variety of other potentially less harmful areas. "I am committed to try to see if we can avoid such doom and gloom," he said.

The Board must reach a final decision on the new cuts by the end of June this year, but will likely make a decision sooner to give district employees who are affected time to adjust. The next Board of Education meeting is on May 24 at 7 p.m. in the William Annin Middle School auditorium.