Tax hike, budget cuts seem likely

By ROBERT LINNEHAN | The Haddonfield Sun
The Haddonfield Board of Education met for the last time before they will officially approve the 2010–11 budget on March 22.
Residents will most likely be looking at a school district budget that contains a 2.53 percent increase in the tax rate. The board faces a $1.4 million deficit in the 2010–2011 budget and presented a plan to cut out a little more than $600,000 in operating and programming costs to help bridge the gap. The tax rate increase would see the bill of the average assessed home in the borough rise by $174, Business Administrator Andy Hall said.
Board Member Joe Ehrhardt petitioned Superintendent Alan Fegley to present his suggestions as to how he would arrive at a budget with a 2.53 percent tax increase and a $1.4 million deficit. It’s only prudent, he said, to ask the superintendent what he thought the best option would be to bridge the deficit.
The board’s package of cuts included an overall reduction of $646,000 for the 2010–2011 school year, Board member Dennis Kelleher said. Within these reductions is the elimination of one elementary school teacher and a $35,000 reduction in the elementary orchestra program.
It’s unknown which school would have the elementary position eliminated. Fegley said the decision would likely be made in June when most of the enrollment figures are in. The grade that is affected by the elimination would likely see its class sizes rise to about 24 or 25 students.
See this week’s print edition of The Sun for the full story.