The West Windsor-Plainsboro school district again earned recognition as a high-performing district both academically and economically. Nehal R. Thaker, regional vice president of ING Inc., presented the district with a “meritorious budget award,” which recognizes excellence in school budget presentation. In addition, the district earned the designation of “high-achieving school district,” from the state department of education under its Quality Single Accountability Continuum (QSAC) monitoring and evaluation system. QSAC measures fiscal management; personnel; operations; governance; and instruction.
Assistant Superintendent of Finance Larry Shanok also presented the proposed 2014-’15 budget.
The year’s proposed budget totals $164,590,352, an increase of 1.32 percent over last year’s. Said Shanok, “the total tax levy will be $148,521,627, an increase of 2.35 percent over last year. However, we will also be utilizing $5,452,619 out of the fund balance. We are also assuming that state aid will be the same amount as last year, $7,773,104 but that is just an educated guess at this point.”
Most operating expenditures will increase from last year. Regular instruction: $52,376,322, an increase of .66 percent; co-curricular activities and athletics, $2,364,863, an increase of .16 percent; administration, $11,490,599, an increase of .83 percent; operations and maintenance, $13,714,169, an increase of 3.36 percent; student transportation, $9,483,391, an increase of 3.91 percent, student support services, $6,220,605, an increase of 1.71 percent; and professional development, $3,367,163, an increase of 10.95 percent. Spending for special education decreased from $25,153,216 to $25,021,288.
Said Shanok: “The increase in the professional development amount reflects the district’s commitment to continuing to train our teachers, which benefits our students immensely. In addition, that number reflects the costs we will incur due to the increase in the number of staff observations we need to conduct, in the thousands, because of new state mandates.”
“Moreover, the administration category includes not just administrators’ salaries. It includes general administration, school administration, and business, technology, and other services costs. Under this year’s budget, for example, we are allocating $140,000 just to purchase increased bandwidth and to fund software support. As we increase our technological capabilities, this number will continue to increase.”
In addition, said Shanok, this budget anticipates that the cost for employee benefits will remain the same as last year, at $26,966,500. “We are taking a risk here. Our employees’ benefits are through the state employee benefits plan, and, again, we have no information from the state about how much the costs will be. However, in last year’s budget we planned for a big increase in employee benefits costs, and that didn’t materialize, so we are hoping the same will hold true for this year.”
Another large expenditure is the capital outlay. $2,250,000 has been allocated for capital expenditures, which is an increase of 32.35 percent. The district anticipates tapping into grants and capital reserves to fund the entire $6 million in proposed capital improvements.
The proposed budget will be reviewed on Tuesday, March 11, and submitted to the county on Thursday, March 20. A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for Tuesday, April 29. No vote will be needed since the annual increase was less than the 2 percent cap.
Sidewalk Safety. During public comment, resident Kristen Raeter raised a safety issue: students who walk to schools in West Windsor, particularly those who walk to High School South, have had to walk in the street because sidewalks are not plowed.
“I have called the district several times over the past few days because the sidewalks along Penn Lyle are still snow-covered, and so students have had to walk in the street to get to South, and it is not safe. The district, namely Larry Shanok’s office, has told me that it is not the district’s responsibility; it is the township’s responsibility.”
“So I called the West Windsor department of public works, and they have said it is the homeowners’ responsibility to shovel their sidewalks, and they have 24 hours after a snow storm to clear them. The district staff also called DPW, and they were told the same thing. So whose responsibility is it?” asked Raeter.
In West Windsor there is no “courtesy bussing” for students who live within a certain radius from the schools, so those students are designated as walkers. In Plainsboro, however; such students are entitled to ride buses because Plainsboro has very few sidewalks and because the township of Plainsboro does not hire crossing guards, which West Windsor does.
Raeter continued: “If all students are eligible to take the bus in Plainsboro, then the same policy should apply for West Windsor residents. The district should make buses available, at least during the winter months, so that the students don’t have to walk in the street. Why am I paying for Plainsboro students to be allowed to take the bus when my own daughter can’t?” The district’s annual cost for transportation is more than $9 million.
Raeter has filed a grievance with the district and intends to continue this discussion with township officials as well.
Alex Drummond, director of DPW for West Windsor, confirmed that is not the township’s responsibility to plow residents’ sidewalks. “We do maintain the sidewalks and crosswalks at the intersections along Penn Lyle, Clarksville and Princeton-Hightstown roads, adjacent to High School South, even though Clarksville and Princeton-Hightstown roads are county roads, as a courtesy to help out the school district. But the township does not own any property along Penn Lyle leading to the high school, and so we do not plow those sidewalks.”
