Schools

School Officials React to $3.88 Million Cut

The Board of Education will consider making across the board programmatic cuts.

Wednesday's 82 percent state aid cut to the Bernards school district has prompted many questions about the 2010-11 school budget, up for a public hearing on Wednesday, March 31.

The finance committee of the Board of Education met Thursday to prepare a new budget proposal factoring in the much larger than expected $3.88 million cut in state funding. The first completed draft of the school budget is due to the county superintendent's office on Monday, March 22, and may be amended after public comments at the Wednesday, March 24 and March 31, Board of Education meetings.

While the district predicted a decrease in state aid for the upcoming school year, the scale of the cuts was not anticipated. "We had been advised by the Executive County Superintendent and the Commissioner to develop budget scenarios based on a five percent, 10 percent and 15 percent reduction in aid," Superintendent Valerie Goger said. "Just a few days ago, the governor was also telling audiences that districts should expect a 15 percent cut. We received an 82 percent cut."

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NJ Education Commissioner Brett Schundler said in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday that he felt districts were adequately warned about the potential losses, stating that the overall cut in total state aid numbers was less than the 15 percent warning.

"I think the translation of the warning into practice is what surprised me," said Bernards schools Business Administrator Nick Markarian. "Just because someone says state aid is going to be less next year, it doesn't really tell a school district in particular how their district is going to be impacted."

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Markarian explained that there was confusion as to what the five to 15 percent decrease in state aid referred. Bernards and many other school districts in the state were basing budget projections on a five to 15 percent reduction in the total amount of aid given to their districts. The numbers released by the state took approximately five percent of each district's operating budget out of their yearly aid totals.

"The reality of the way that the aid was reduced is in line with the statement: five percent of your entire general operating fund for '09-'10," Markarian said. "No one that I know of had ever heard that statement before this week."

How to Make Up the Lost Revenue

As mentioned in Wednesday's budget article, the original best-case scenario for the 2010-11 of no programmatic cuts will have to be reviewed with the new $3 million dollar hole in the budget.

"We're working feverishly right now to try to figure out what [the cuts] are going to mean," Markarian said. "Since our expectation of this 5-15 percent is much different than the reality that we received this week, we're having to do work right now that we didn't anticipate that we would have to do. We are as you might imagine trying to figure out how to deal with a $3.8 million loss when we thought it might be $750,000."

In past discussions, the Board of Education has looked at a variety of cost-saving items that could help make up the hole in the upcoming budget. Elementary class size, enrichment and world language programs, as well as administration, operations, support, guidance and extracurricular offerings have already been cut or reduced due to funding shortfalls to date. In order to make up the further losses, the Board will also be looking at the following:

  • Moving to an 8-period day at Ridge High School
  • Cutting middle school cycles
  • Switching to a half-day kindergarten

In addition to piecemeal changes, Goger said, "When trying to compensate for such a large loss of state aid, we are examining the entire Pre-K through 12th grade program, in both general and special education."

The Board will also seek to determine the amount of property tax increases the voters will support in order to help pay for the 2010-11 budget, according to Markarian. Despite Gov. Christie's proposed constitutional amendment to limit property tax increases to 2.5 percent per year, current law allows for a four percent increase, and potentially more based on exceptions for which the school board could apply.


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