‘Why not us?’

From a young age, children are taught to follow their passions.

“The most important part of following their passion is (to provide) an avenue to follow it,” Samuel Levine, a Cherokee High School senior, told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee during a hearing at the New Jersey Institute of Technology on March 19.

The hearing offered Levine and fellow senior Daniel Leonard a chance to address a worrisome decrease in state aid for the Lenape Regional High School District. It is among more than 100 state school systems that could see funding decreases outlined in Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed spending plan, according to the Department of Education.

The teachers, staff and co-curricular activities offered at Cherokee are among reasons why Levine and Leonard, arrive at school a half-hour early. They are both active in school as leaders of the Class of 2024.

“The mantra this year for our senior class is ‘Why not us?'” Levine said. “It does not say, ‘Why not some of us?’ It also did not say, ‘Why not me?’

“This is because at Cherokee, we are all one town, one tribe,” he added. “Every student and every staff member plays a vital role in making Cherokee the family we know it to be.”

Levine described for the committee the “canyon-sized hole” the Lenape district faces after state aid cuts of $4.69 million.

“We need to start having serious talks about sustainable and reliable revenue sources and serious talks about fixing the flawed school funding formula that has been around since 2008,” district Superintendent Carol Birnbohm noted.

Birnbohm urged the committee to consider a bill sponsored by state senators Troy Singleton and Vin Gopal that she described as “one very easy and elegant way” to fix a major flaw in the funding formula: state aid for districts with an average 15.9% or less in their special-ed classification rate.

“The easy flaw is there are going to be school districts over the average and school districts under the average,” Birnbohm pointed out, adding that Lenape schools have more than 1,200 students with IEPs (Individualized Education Program). “There’s no reason why in this day in age where data is so easily accessible that we have to rely on an average.

“Districts know exactly how many special-education students are in every single school district …” she continued. “We are required to provide that data to the state twice a year before our Oct. 15 (enrollment) count.”

For districts with a classification rate greater than 15.9% – which the Lenape district has – it “is hurting all students” in those school districts, Birnbohm observed.

The state’s proposed budget would reduce Lenape’s state aid to nearly $4.7 million, a 20% reduction announced on Feb. 29. As a result, the district and its board of education have gone to great lengths to propose a balanced budget in a challenging time. It would include operational, programmatic and staffing reductions, including not replacing retirements, and other cost-saving measures to approval by the Burlington County executive superintendent.

“Fiscal responsibility to our eight communities’ taxpayers, balanced by our unwavering commitment to our students, families and staff, is a hallmark of our district, even during – especially during – challenging times,” Birnbohm emphasized.

Once its budget is approved, the district will hold a public hearing of the plan and tax impact at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 24, at the K. Kiki Konstantinos Administration and Staff Development Building, 93 Willow Grove Road in Shamong.

The proposed general fund tax-levy increase of 2.08% – and no-debt service tax levy increase – will result in the following tax impact for municipalities:

• Evesham Township – Tax levy decrease of 1.05 cents, resulting in a decrease in regional school taxes of $26.97 on a home assessed at the township average of $272,848.
• Medford Township – Tax levy increase of 1 cent, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $45.16 on a home assessed at the township average of $330,888.
• Medford Lakes Borough – Tax levy increase of 4.78 cents, for an increase in regional school taxes of $146.67 on a home assessed at the borough average of $289,833.
• Mount Laurel Township – Tax levy increase of 1.41 cents, an increase in regional school taxes of $37.38 on a home assessed at the township average of $238,700.
• Shamong Township – Tax levy increase of 7.31 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $233.90 on a home assessed at the township average of $310,641.
• Southampton Township – Tax levy increase of 3.46 cents, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $32.46 on a home assessed at the township average of $189,066.
• Tabernacle Township – Tax levy increase of 5.26 cents, for an increase in regional school taxes of $145.38 on a home assessed at the township average of $274,369.
• Woodland Township – Tax levy increase of 1 cent, resulting in an increase in regional school taxes of $17.82 on a home assessed at the township average of $255,200.

The Lenape district’s four high schools – Lenape, Shawnee, Cherokee and Seneca – as well as the Sequoia Alternative and Transition to Adulthood Programs, educate approximately 6,600 students from eight communities in Burlington County: Evesham, Medford, Medford Lakes, Mount Laurel, Shamong, Southampton, Tabernacle and Woodland.