Meeting was held to find solutions to spending plan problem.
By: Rebecca Tokarz
JAMESBURG Members of the Borough Council and the school board were to meet Thursday after the Cranbury Press’ deadline to discuss its options and what, if anything, can be shaved from the school district’s $10.24 million spending plan, defeated by voters on April 15.
"We’re hoping they’ll let the budget stand," school board President Don Peterson said. "If they ask us to cut the budget, it will negatively impact the children’s education."
Borough officials have until May 19 to render a final decision on the budget. School board officials said if necessary, an emergency school board meeting could be called for May 15.
Under New Jersey state law, a defeated school budget is given to the municipal governing body for whatever action the governing body sees necessary. If cuts are required, the municipality sets a dollar amount and the school board makes the specific cuts.
Borough officials have been meeting since April 21 to discuss the future of the school district’s spending plan, defeated 267-128. Members of the council held a special three-hour meeting April 25 with state officials to discuss the district’s problems. Thursday’s meeting was to be the first between the Borough Council and school board.
Had the budget passed, residents would have faced a 43-cent school tax rate hike, raising the tax rate to $2.64 per $100 of assessed valuation. Under that rate, the owner of a house assessed at the borough average of $123,000 would have paid $3,247 in school taxes, an increase of $529. If the budget had been approved, the school tax rate would have risen 75 cents in the last two years.
Even with the increase, the budget called for the cancellation of after-school sports programs and the elimination of a librarian position currently shared by Grace M. Breckwedel and John F. Kennedy schools. The librarian will take over a classroom teaching position next year, school officials said.
Much of the increase in spending comes from an anticipated $619,808 increase for out-of-district placement of special education students and tuition for high school students attending Monroe Township High School.
The district expects $3,551,623 in state aid for next year, including $619,687 for special education aid.
"There has been a lot of correspondence going on between people getting paperwork back and forth," Mayor Tony LaMantia said. "Right now, we’re looking into what we can and can’t do."
He said the school board and the council will discuss the budget, but said the two sides are waiting word from the state about what can be done.
This is the second consecutive year the council has scrutinized the district’s spending plan. Last year’s $9.46 million budget, which carried a 34-cent increase in the school tax rate, was defeated. The council trimmed 2 cents from the tax rate by having the borough provide grounds maintenance and other services without charging the district.
Last October, the district faced a $228,000 budget shortfall that forced it to lay off eight staff members, including four teachers, a vice principal, a custodian and a secretary, to handle increases in health costs and cover unexpected costs related to sending eight additional special education students to out-of-district schools.
Mr. Peterson said the school board has not discussed how to accommodate for class trips or its after-school sports programs.
"The board would love to fund them again, but there are so many other things that could negatively impact the budget, we haven’t discussed it yet," he said.
In the meantime, Mr. Peterson said, Jamesburg is taking things one day at a time and hoping for the best.
"Hopefully the state can come up with some money for us next year," he said.
On April 29, Don Peterson was elected to serve as president of the board for another year. Incumbents Sherry Theinert and Anne Toth were sworn in. With only two candidates on the ballot and three seats open, write-in candidate James Eldridge, a welder with the Painters and Glaziers Union Local 1009, was sworn in after receiving 18 votes.

