The 2014-’15 WW-P school budget was approved by an 8-1 vote on April 29 after an updated budget presentation from assistant superintendent Larry Shanok. Scott Powell cast the lone dissenting vote.
Shanok’s presentation was similar to those given at various public meetings in the past few months, with one key addition: the tax impact information for each town. “This information could not be included earlier,” Shanok said. “We must wait for the assessed property value, which has nothing to do with us.”
“This year, for Plainsboro, the school budget will raise the tax rate to $1.65 per $100 of assessed value, an increase of three tenths of a cent over last year. Thus, for someone living in the mythical average household, valued at $386,200, the school taxes are estimated to be $6,384, or an increase of $23.”
“For West Windsor residents,” Shanok continued, “the school budget will increase the tax rate to $1.436 per $100 of assessed value, for an increase of 1.7 cents. Thus, for an average home, assessed at $522,056, school taxes will increase by $78 to $7,497.”
“Considering the past three years, the tax rate for Plainsboro residents increased 1.1 percent, and the tax rate for West Windsor residents increased .7 percent,” he added.
Shanok also gave enrollment projections for the two towns. It is expected that Plainsboro students will comprise 42.06 percent of school enrollment for 2014-’15, which is a slight increase over last year, when Plainsboro students made up 41.35 percent of the student body.
One point Shanok reiterated was the hazard of a shrinking fund balance. “A decrease in the fund balance is a difficult thing to deal with,” he said. “As the West Windsor administration has noted, once the fund balance is gone, it’s gone, and cannot be made up. Also, because of the tax rate relief that has been offered over the past few years, people may now believe that tax relief will be provided every year. But looking to the past several years, there were many years with tax increases of over 2 percent. Holding tax increases to under 2 percent does have repercussions, and we are seeing that now, when we don’t have the reserves because of the lower tax increases of the past few years. In 2013-’14 we held that tax levy increase to zero; we were very proud of that. But now we must make up the difference.”
Shanok explained that when compared to other comparable districts, the WW-P district always has one of the lowest per-pupil costs as well as one of the highest levels of education, which is a measure of the district’s fiscal and educational strength. Additionally, he noted, the district earned the meritorious budget award from the ASBO International (WW-P News, December 20, 2013).
“We think there is a lot of evidence demonstrating our excellence in education as well as cost-control measures, which is a tribute to the district staff as a whole,” Shanok said.
West Windsor resident John Church offered the sole public comment on the budget. “My wife and I have sent three children though the excellent school system, and we support education. I have some constructive criticism. There are several different ways of calculating per-pupil cost. One way, which is a simple way, is to take the total tax levy, and divide it by the number of students on the rolls. It seems to me that based on this calculation, for this year the per pupil cost will be $15,327, whereas the last two years it was approximately $14,500. In real terms, we are paying considerably more per student than is reflected here in your budget. I would like to ask if you could forward to me how you came up with your numbers.”
In response, Board President Tony Fleres said: “I believe you are referring to the numbers on the state website. There are state formulas listed there. Those numbers are meant to compare one school district to another uniformly. There are costs that they don’t include, such as transportation costs, which would be lower in a city than in a wide-spread suburban district, because they are trying to compare apples to apples.”
Included in the general fund budget is $8,386,604 to be deposited in capital reserve to transfer to repayment of debt. The budget also calls for $8,763,503 to be withdrawn from the Board of Education’s approved capital reserve account to support funding of capital projects. This budget also includes the use of $503,000 banked cap from the 2011-’12 school year that would otherwise expire.
West Windsor Council’s liaison to the school board, Peter Mendonez, also addressed its members. “I would like to thank those on the board who tried to be fiscally conservative. I wanted to inform you that all five council members said that we tried to keep our budget flat and were concerned that the school budget is not.”
“However, this is not about politics. I am asking for communication between our two bodies. I would like the school board to appoint a liaison to our town council as well, so that we can communicate effectively together and work together.”
“In that vein,” said Mendonez, “I have two items to bring to your attention. The township recently approved funding for educational programs and exhibits at Schenk Farmstead, which are geared toward fourth-grade students, so I hope that students will take advantage of this resource. Also, we have several sustainability experts on our environmental board, who would like to help with the board if you would like their assistance.”
#b#Other Board Action#/b#
Board member Michele Kaish discussed the Village School addition, and noted that residents can track progress on the “About Us” tab on the district website. In addition, the board authorized a contract with SOR Testing Laboratories to perform on-site construction observation and testing services as required for inspections, at an estimated cost of $50,000.
Kaish also noted that the administration committee had concerns over the adequacy of the number of emergency closing days within next two years and that discussions regarding the 2015-’16 and 2016-’17 calendars will be ongoing.
“Finally,” she said, “the committee wants to assess the success of the 1:1 chrome book pilot program from the perspectives of parents, students, and teachers, perhaps through a survey. From a policy perspective, we are also interested in theft, loss, and other damage issues.”
Board Vice President Richard Kaye explained some changes to the summer reading assignments.
“We reassessed the summer reading lists and clarified the purpose behind them: to have our students enjoy the process of reading, then reach accomplishments that we would like them to accomplish,” he said. “Therefore, we will have one list for both honors and college level courses. The summer reading assignment will only be worth 5 percent of the first marking period grade. And every student will go through same instructional process when they return to school, and then will be assigned the first formal written assignment, so that every student will have same level of instruction before they write their first graded assignment.”
Board member Dana Krug addressed the proposed upgrade of fire alarm equipment at High School North. “All of the bids came in approximately 75 percent higher than anticipated, so the finance committee recommends rejecting all of the bids and sending out a new bid request.”
Accordingly, the board voted unanimously to reject five bids ranging from $61,000 to $112,400.
The board also approved a food services contract with Sodexo. The district will pay Sodexo a management fee equal to 20 cents per meal, and Sodexo guarantees that the district will receive a minimum annual financial return of $85,000.
It was also noted that Aramark, which handles building and grounds maintenance, has hired a new evening management team, and is studying ways to reduce maintenance costs throughout the district, which remain high.
#b#Personnel Changes#/b#
There were many personnel changes as well, including several reappointments of newly hired district administrators, principals, and supervisors. Larry Shanok, Martin Smith, and Gerard Dalton were all reappointed as assistant superintendents, and Jean Marie Seal will continue as director of athletics.
The one notable retirement is Maurice Hawk principal Denise Mengani, who has been with the district for 36 years. Her last day will be June 30.
West Windsor resident and Maurice Hawk PTA President Joanne Lasky publicly thanked Mengani for all of her years of service to the district and the students.
Supervisor Reappointments: Carl Cooper, social studies; Erin Falk, special services; Cathy Reilly, K-12 Language Arts, Literacy, and ESL; Jeffrey Santoro, fine and performing arts; Sherry Sizemore, world languages; and Susan Totaro, curriculum and instruction K-12.
Principal Reappointments: Shauna Carter, Community; Brian Harris, Grover. Assistant Principals: Jack Colella, Grover; Nicole Foulks, Village; Lori Skibinski, Millstone River; and Guyler Tulp, Community.
Assistant principal Janet Bowes will move from Dutch Neck to Town Center Elementary School.
Finally, 10 teachers were honored with the Governor Recognition Award.
Gerri Barber, Dutch Neck; Michele Bostwick, Maurice Hawk; Amy Carter, Village; Marcey Mandell, Town Center; Melissa Morris, Community; Pamela Ronen, Wicoff; Rose Stevens, Grover; Keith Van Doren, Millstone River; Michelle Walsh, High School South; and Patti Walsh, High School North.
