While the board unanimously approved the 2019–20 preliminary budget, four board members voted against the use of capital reserves to repair walls at Cherry Hill East, install security vestibules at both high schools.
A slight decrease in school taxes could be on tap for Cherry Hill residents this year.
The Cherry Hill Board of Education approved the district’s 2019–20 school budget at its meeting last Tuesday. The preliminary budget totals about $215.9 million and includes a decrease in school taxes of $4.86 for the average assessed home of $224,506.
A number of factors went into the slight decrease. The biggest factor is the district’s lack of debt. Assistant Superintendent for Business Lynn Shugars said the district made its final debt payment in February. With the district’s bond referendum failing in December, the district is currently operating debt-free, meaning residents currently will not be paying taxes toward debt service. The average Cherry Hill resident previously paid approximately $75 annually toward the school district’s debt service.
Another factor going into the decrease is an increase in ratables. Shugars noted ratables in the township have increased from about $7.7 billion to $7.8 billion, helping to offset a 2 percent increase in the local tax levy going toward the general budget.
A number of new additions are included in the preliminary budget. The district has increased the amount of money in general education for the addition of full-day kindergarten in September. The district is also adding one English as a second language teacher and one world language teacher.
The board unanimously approved the preliminary budget, but was not united when it came to approving a resolution for the use of about $9.9 million of available capital reserve money for six projects. The projects included $4.4 million for masonry wall repairs at Cherry Hill High School East, $3.4 million for a full roof replacement at Horace Mann Elementary School and partial roof replacements at Cherry Hill East and West, $1 million for wall repairs to the Cherry Hill East auditorium, $530,000 for the installation of security vestibules at Cherry Hill East and West, $250,000 for district-wide field and fencing improvements and $250,000 to fix stage accessibility issues at the district’s elementary schools.
“Unfortunately, when we are in a situation where our bond referendum was not approved and we are looking at very critical projects that need to be done, we have to prioritize how we use those funds and what we’re going to focus on,” Shugars said.
Prior to the vote, board member Laurie Neary made a motion to amend the resolution to remove the East masonry wall repairs, East auditorium wall repairs and security vestibules at both high schools. Board member David Rossi seconded the motion and explained he believes the district needs to develop a “broader vision” for the district’s buildings in the future.
Rossi brought up the same point during the board’s last meeting in February. At that meeting, representatives from district architect Becica Associates LLC talked about a multi-phase renovation to address issues with the parapet wall at the Cherry Hill East auditorium. Numbers provided to the board of education estimated the multi-phase renovation of the auditorium to cost up to $12.8 million. Becica’s estimate to demolish and rebuild the auditorium came in at about $17.5 million. The $1 million in the 2019–20 capital reserve budget would go toward funding a portion of the first phase of the auditorium repairs. The board already approved the use of $2.5 million to cover part of the phase one repair cost last year.
At the February meeting, Rossi noted there was also masonry wall work needing to be done in other parts of Cherry Hill East and said he felt a deeper inspection of the state of the building should be done before decisions were made on any repairs.
“I think a broader inspection of the entire building would have to be looked at before either of these two options are viable,” Rossi said in February while commenting on the auditorium wall repair.
February’s discussion about making repairs to the auditorium and masonry walls at Cherry Hill East spilled into last week’s meeting. Board member Sally Tong sided with Rossi and felt the district should have a second opinion done on the state of Cherry Hill East’s walls before decisions are made with funding.
Board member Edward Wang discussed his opinion on the auditorium, stating the district should explore building a new one and suggested exploring alternate revenue sources to pay for it.
“I’m inclined to have a new auditorium,” Wang said. “Our high schools are very attractive, that’s really the main attraction of our school district. Also, our schools haven’t had any new buildings for a long while. If we have a new building or a new part of the school we commit to build, maybe we could help to raise the morale of the people that could also help with passing the new bond.”
Speaking out against the amendment, board vice president Lisa Saidel expressed concerned with not moving forward with the capital projects, saying delaying the projects more could cause further disrepair.
“My question is, what happens if we don’t (move forward with repairs)?” Saidel said. “That big picture conversation is not happening in the next six months.”
Shugars notes the masonry wall and roof repair projects were top priority items in the December bond referendum. The Cherry Hill East auditorium wall repair was not included in the referendum, as Shugars said the issue was brought to light late last year when the auditorium’s roof was being replaced and the bond referendum projects were already finalized.
“This is a building envelope,” board member Carol Matlack said in moving forward with the projects. “This is not our instruction. This is not our curriculum. This is not how we implement our programs. All of that happens within the building envelope, but…that building envelope needs to be safe and secure and sturdy.”
In the end, the board split between two groups. Neary’s motion to amend the resolution failed as only herself, Rossi, Tong and Wang voted in favor of the changes. When the board finally voted on the original resolution, it passed, 5–4. Matlack, Saidel, board president Eric Goodwin and board members Jane Scarpellino and Ruth Schultz voted in favor of the resolution while Neary, Rossi, Tong and Wang voted against it.
The public hearing on the school district’s 2019–20 budget will take place at the board’s meeting on Tuesday, April 30.
