A projected decrease in enrollment at elementary schools in West Windsor-Plainsboro may enable the school district to move three teaching positions to the high schools.##M:[more]##
The district’s finance committee presented the enrollment information to the school board last month as part of the boards ongoing review of the budget for the 2005-’06 school year.
District officials have said they anticipate this year’s spending plan to include a 5 percent increase in the operating budget, and a 4 percent overall increase in entire budget.
The public hearing date for the budget is planned for Tuesday, March 28. Voters will have an opportunity to cast their ballots on the budget at the annual school election on Tuesday, April 18.
The Finance Committee, which gave its report to the board during a meeting on January 24, projected elementary school enrollments to drop by about 26 students. The numbers are in line with demographics statistics in the New Jersey School Report Card released this week.
Those numbers show that enrollments have either remained the same or have decreased slightly in recent years. Slower than anticipated construction at Toll Brothers’ Estates at Princeton Junction development in West Windsor has also resulted in lower-than-expected enrollments.
Superintendent Robert Loretan said that based on the Finance Committee’s projections, the district could eliminate one teaching position at Dutch Neck, one at Wicoff, and one English-as-a-second-language position shared among the elementary schools. Those positions could be shifted to fill needs at the high schools.
In upcoming meetings, the board is expected to hear budget presentations on the middle schools, athletic departments, buildings and grounds, transportation, and technology.
