While many of the details surrounding the 2013–2014 school year budget are still up in the air, Superintendent Dr. Richard Perry gave an initial budget outlook at the meeting.
The adopted budget has to be turned in electronically on March 7, he said, and the school board acted to move the March 7 meeting to March 4 with an additional meeting on March 6 if necessary.
State aid figures will be released after Gov. Christie’s Feb. 26 address. Currently, the district is factoring state aid into budget at a flat rate, but is prepared for possible cuts if that changes, Perry said.
“This year is unique in that the public will not vote on the budget,” Perry said.
Due to state mandates, if the district stays within the 2 percent cap, there is no public vote.
There is a projected deficit of $450,259 in the budget.
To maintain the status quo, said Perry, there would be a 1.66 increase in the tax levy.
Perry, however, has additional budget requests that would result in a tax levy of 1.98 percent, just under the cap.
Perry’s requests include a part time administrator to help with teacher evaluations, a summer curriculum boost and additional capital projects in the amount of $50,000.
In all, the requests would add an additional $160,000 into the budget.
In the 2012–2013 budget, there was a zero percent tax levy increase.
School safety update
A district community security meeting was held on Monday, Feb. 4 and had about 20 people in attendance, including several local officials, said Perry.
“We had a broad spectrum of people throughout the community interested in safety and security, not just in the school district, but also in the borough,” he said.
The group went through examples on how to make the schools safer, he said, and collaborated on ways to move forward as a committee.
“It gave everybody a chance to talk about their concerns on all levels,” said Perry. “We’re hoping to come up with a list of priorities that we can do as a district.”
Tuition report
Tuition students as additional revenue have been in the spotlight this school year.
Tuition committee representative Joe Ehrhardt mentioned that branding is important currently, as well as potential corporate sponsorships.
“Historically, there should be nothing in the way of doing that,” he said.
The next tuition open house will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 26 at the high school.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Board of Education is scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the high school library.
