HomeVoorhees NewsEastern Camden County Regional School District Board of Education passes 2015–2016 school...

Eastern Camden County Regional School District Board of Education passes 2015–2016 school year budget

Eastern

At the April 29 meeting of the Eastern Camden County Regional School District Board of Education, the board passed the 2015–2016 school year budget.

For a Voorhees homeowner with an average assessed home value at $255,000, the annual Eastern Regional High School District tax bill will increase $27.66, or 1.1 cents for every $100 of assessed property value.

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The total budget, including operating funds and debt service, totaled $37.24 million, with $24.67 million raised from the local tax levy.

Of that $24.67 million, about 77 percent, or $19.01 million, comes from Voorhees residents.

The overall tax levy will increase by $466,736, exactly meeting the state-mandated 2 percent year-to-year tax increase cap.

Superintendent Harold Melleby Jr. said he was happy to report that the district was able to maintain all staffing, instructional programs, athletics and student activities.

“We’re able to maintain the programs that we’ve offered this year, and we’ve been very fortunate the last few years since 2010 when we had all the budgets defeated, as many budgets were defeated in the state of New Jersey,” Melleby said. “We’ve been able to build some of our programs back and maintain them.”

Also regarding athletics, the sports activity fee is budgeted to remain the same, at $125 per student or $250 per household, and no other fees are being added.

Melleby said the district instituted the fee about five years ago, as did many other school districts at the time, and as a result of the fee, the district was able to raise about $90,000 in the last year alone.

A new position was also budgeted for one special education teacher, based on the number of students registering for the 2015–2016 school year with individual education plans and growing needs in the area of special education.

Also in the budget are funds to purchase a new textbook series for world languages.

Several capital projects have also been budgeted for, and at the meeting, district business administrator Fred Wright went over the projects in detail.

The projects will be paid for using surplus funds that were set aside as capital reserve money over a period of several years and will not require any new money to be raised by taxes.

Projects outlined by Wright include the replacement of the bleachers in gymnasiums 2 and 4, replacement of stage lighting in the auditorium, the construction of a marching band and athletics equipment storage building, the replacement of a marching band platform, the construction of an outdoor climbing wall, the replacement of lights in the school parking lot and exterior of the building, and the construction of a sidewalk in the school’s courtyard area.

Wright said the bleachers do not have the proper railings to comply with handicap accessible requirements and must be extended and withdrawn manually, and the district has the fear that an injury may occur, as those pushing the bleachers have reported trouble lining up properly.

The new bleachers will be electric and will extend and withdraw by remote control.

The new parking lot lights will be LED lights and will have an expected 17-year life span, which would cut down on the necessity of the district renting a lift to replace burnt out bulbs, as is the current situation.

The marching band and athletics storage building would be built using a wall already in place at the end of the school’s parking lot near the tennis courts. The building will allow the marching band to store equipment much closer to where it practices.

According to Wright, the outdoor climbing wall is a trend various schools are starting to show interest in, and was a request by the physical education department for use in team-building exercises.

With the auditorium stage lighting, only six of the original 16 color light scrollers are functioning, and they have been determined to be past the point of repair.

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