Last week’s meeting marked the beginning of a new era for the Tabernacle Board of Education. It was the first after the resignation of former superintendent George Rafferty.
A familiar face filled Rafferty’s old seat. Former Tabernacle Superintendent Dr. John Sherry who retired in June 2005 will be filling in as the interim until the board decides on Rafferty’s long-term replacement.
Sherry was faced with giving the rundown of the preliminary budget for the 2016–17 year on his sixth day back with board.
The board passed the budget last week and sent it to the county for approval.
Tabernacle residents will now potentially be looking at a 4.1-cent increase on the tax levy, resulting in a K-8 school tax increase of $106.98 on a home assessed at the township average of $263,745.
Every penny the district raises the tax rate results in $66,000 of revenue for the budget.
Sherry followed these comments by announcing that Tabernacle will be the only Lenape Regional High School District constituent township experiencing a decrease in their regional school tax bill. The average homeowner will be seeing a $68 decrease in taxes paid to the regional high school board.
Therefore, the net increase on total school taxes will be $38.98 for Tabernacle residents.
About 80 percent of the K-8 budget is made up of salaries and fringe benefits for people who work in the district.
“We’re a service organization. We give service to the children and the community, so the majority of our budget goes to salaries,” Sherry said.
There is no reduction of force planned in this budget, so there will be the same number of teachers in 2016–17 as there were in 2015–16.
However, there will be adjustments in assignments based on the needs of the students.
In the middle school, the main focus is the new ISTEM room being implemented, and there are funds contained in this budget to help move that project forward.
The board will also be looking to make some special education improvements this year.
Sherry additionally spoke to some problems he’s noticed with the district’s transportation numbers, much to the chagrin of many parents in attendance who have been lobbying for this for months.
“I firmly believe, after six days on the job, that we need to conduct an audit of our transportation system,” he said.
He suggested hiring an external pair of eyes not currently involved with the district to take a look at the finances associated with transportation.
As it stands in the tentative budget, the district is scheduled to purchase two new buses this year.
“That is if the need for these two buses is real,” Sherry said.
The county office will be in contact with the school district regarding any potential modifications that must be made.
The board will then hold a public hearing of the county-approved budget where it will officially go into effect if passed.
