By ROBERT LINNEHAN
What a difference a month makes and an increase of over $700,000 in state aid. The Evesham K-8 School District board of education approved a budget for 2011–2012 that will reduce the school tax levy in the district.
The BOE passed the preliminary $65.9 million budget unanimously, which features a reduction in the overall tax levy in the school district. This year the district raised about $51.1 million in school taxes, which Business Administrator Dennis Nettleton said would be reduced slightly for 2011–2012. He did not have the actual figure for the levy at the meeting; please visit the Marlton Sun later in the day for the information.
The district faced a $4.45 million shortfall after the state announced that Evesham would be receiving an additional $718,000 in aid for next year. The district will receive $12.3 million in aid from the state next year, Superintendent John Scavelli reported.
About a month ago the district reported that it could possibly face a $6.7 million shortfall at worst.
“We certainly were not expecting to get an increase at all. Of course, this is a good thing,” he said at the preliminary budget hearing.
To bridge the $4.45 million gap, the BOE approved several cuts within the school district. Luckily the major cut that was announced at the start of the process — the closing of Evans Elementary School — did not have to be approved.
Instead, the board approved the reduction of 53 positions within the district for a savings of $4.6 million. The additional savings will be given back to the tax payers, according to the district.
The biggest reduction was the elimination of a house in the Marlton Middle School, which will see the elimination of the purple house section of the student body. The students in the purple house will be absorbed into the blue and yellow houses. Marlton Middle School is evenly divided among three houses, which all function like its own mini-school.
More than 30 full-time positions were reduced for 2011–2012 from the Marlton Middle School.
All students who live in the Colts Run neighborhood will be redistricted to the DeMasi Elementary School from Evans Elementary School.
The tax rate figures and impact the budget will have on the average assessed home owner in Evesham was not available last night, Nettleton said, but will be available later today.
