With just a month and a half left before the public gets to vote, all systems are in high gear on the proposed $136 million budget for the 2005-’06 school year.##M:[more]##
Says Linda Geevers, board member from West Windsor. “I think people understand that we have a budget that will meet our needs.”
At its meeting on February 22, the board unanimously approved a preliminary version of the $136.25 million budget. This represents a 4.6 percent increase from last year’s $130 million budget. The increase is due to rising costs of salaries and benefits as well as three new teaching positions and a guidance counselor for the high schools.
“The budget process has been fairly smooth,” says Liyou Yang, a board member from Plainsboro and member of the board’s finance committee. “The administration started the process early and has followed a well-planned schedule.”
According to Board President Hemant Marathe, the district expects a 2 percent enrollment growth this year, compared to a 4 percent growth in years past. The budget’s spending increase is within state budget-cap limits. If the budget is approved on April 19, this will be the third year in a row that budget increases have been kept below 5 percent.
The approval by the board was a tentative adoption of the budget. The board is expected to vote on a preliminary spending plan at its meeting on March 8 that will be submitted to the Mercer County Department of Education. The board is scheduled to hold a formal budget hearing on Thursday, March 24. If the budget is approved at that hearing, it will go before the voters on April 19 as well as a school board election.
“We are close to the finish line,” says Yang. “The administration is doing a good job opening discussions with the finance committee and the consensus is that it is almost there. We are trying to maintain the programs yet keeping pace with all the other obligation that we need to do.”
Yang believes that the public has a positive impression of the budget. “I notice that people who come to the meetings to hear the discussion are not publicly opposed to the budget figures,” he says. “I think people understand that the budget is solid and fiscally responsible. We try to do the right thing to maintain our quality education.”
In other district news, the board also approved a resolution on February 22 urging Mercer County to take action against a big bill for $478,”000 from the county for back payment of previously estimated special education costs dating back to 2002. At the meeting, superintendent Robert Loretan said that the district should not be held responsible for the financial practices of Mercer County Special Services.
“That is part of the trouble,” says Liyou Yang. “We sent the special education students to outside schools like Mercer County Academy and the costs go up dramatically. Their recalculation of the charges are costing districts a huge amount. Some of our neighboring districts are seeing a lot higher numbers.”
All nine school districts in Mercer County are being billed the additional tuition costs totaling $5.6 million due to budgeting shortfalls revealed through an annual audit review by the state.
