No cuts for school budget in Washington

Township Committee decides to leave defeated budget alone.

By: Cynthia Koons
   WASHINGTON — In a 3-2 vote, the Washington Township Committee sided against 1,186 of its constituents when it voted May 15 to instate the school board’s 18-cent tax rate increase that residents had already rejected.
   It’s the second year in a row that the school board’s budget failed at the polls and had to go to the Township Committee for review. The $24.1 million spending plan was defeated April 15, with only 896 residents voting in favor of the budget that included an 8-cent increase in construction payments and a 10-cent increase in the general fund to finance new high school costs.
   The total 2003-2004 school tax rate will be $2.30 per $100 of assessed property value. The current tax rate is $2.12.
   Committee members Kathy St. John, Dave Fried and Vince Calcagno voted in favor of keeping the failed school budget. Mayor Doug Tindall and Committeeman Jack Mozloom voted against it. A homeowner in Washington Township, whose home is assessed at the township average of $175,000, will now pay $4,025 in school taxes — a $315 increase.
   In two joint meetings of school board officials and Township Committee members, the specifications of the proposed tax increase were discussed at length. In the second meeting last week, committee members proposed three plans that would cut the tax rate by either 4 cents, 2 cents or 1 cent.
   Each of the three revised spending plans was drafted by a committee member and proposed to the school board and audience in a meeting that was set up much like a judicial proceeding.
   The 4-cent tax cut would have eliminated staff positions at Sharon School, including one guidance counselor, the assistant principal, one supervisor of curriculum and one new second-grade teacher. Other cuts included the elimination of the high school principal’s job this year, the principal’s secretary, a technology technician and a fourth-grade teacher.
   The new high school, which had its groundbreaking last month, is opening in the fall of 2005. The freshman class will be part of the district’s curriculum in the fall of 2004, when they will begin their high school career in a wing of Pond Road Middle School.
   Committeeman Jack Mozloom proposed the 4-cent cut in order to alleviate the tax burden in the budget that voters defeated April 15.
   "The bottom line is at the polls a couple of weeks ago, the voters rejected the budget," he said. "I am under no illusion that these cuts would be easy for the school board. A 4-cent reduction in an 18-cent tax increase is not too much to bear."
   His proposal was met with applause from the senior population in attendance, but the remaining four committee members rejected his proposal.
   "I may be willing to support a 4-cent cut, only because I’m sure the school board would appeal it," Mayor Tindall said.
   Mr. Fried also rejected the plan because he said he worries that property values will be adversely affected by such a cut.
   "While it sounds good, it could wind up tasting really bad in the future," Mr. Fried said. "This cut goes too far; I think it’s a knee-jerk reaction so I’m a ‘no.’"
   Mayor Tindall then presented his 2-cent cut, which included the elimination of one guidance counselor at Sharon School, one supervisor of curriculum, the assistant principal at Sharon School and the new second- and fourth-grade teachers.
   Yet the school board’s attorney advised the committee that teachers’ contracts include seniority rights, or bumping rights, which means that administrative positions that are cut would actually cause newer teachers to lose their jobs.
   "There are seniority rights. In many cases it trickles to the classroom," school board attorney Matthew Giacobbe said. "The savings is not going to be that drastic. It would knock off a non-tenured teacher."
   Superintendent Paul Harren said the elimination of a curriculum supervisor would not be acceptable for the board.
   "We presented to the committee a budget that was as tight as we could make it," he said. "Any cuts at this point are going to have a serious effect on the school district."
   The committee then turned to its 1-cent cut, which would prevent the hiring of the high school principal’s secretary and two new custodians. An additional $10,000 would be removed from the superintendent and business administrator’s travel budget. Their raises, as well as administrative raises throughout the district, would be reduced.
   "We had to go to 0-percent raises for our (municipal) employees," Committeeman Dave Fried said. "I don’t love these (cuts) but I can tell you it will not hurt the classroom."
   Mr. Calcagno agreed with his assertion.
   "This was the only scenario that I thought could work," he said. "Many raises are collective bargaining agreements and are hands off."
   But Mr. Giacobbe said administrative raises were also predetermined in bargaining agreements that the committee could not tamper with.
   "We’re dealing with a public contract that has so many legislative constraints," he said. "Any cut you make, there’s going to be a ripple effect."
   During the public comment, many residents stood in defense of the school budget.
   One outspoken youngster, a student at Pond Road Middle School, sided with these residents.
   "I felt angry that the budget failed. I felt that the adults in this community didn’t care about me and my friends," Megan Leach said. "I think the new high school principal is great."
   Sheree McGowan, a township resident, said she was also in favor of keeping the administrative staff as is.
   "Perhaps (by) spending a day in the school, you’d see how full their day is," she said.
   "Violence, abuse, divorce and death touches communities like ours — not just inner cities," she said. When another student threatened her son with physical violence, she said the administrators and guidance staff intervened.
   "It was the guidance counselor who helped my son feel safe at school," she said. "Don’t make our children pay for the mistakes of our Legislature."
   Resident Marcia Alvaraz said it was the school board’s careless spending that put the community in the position it’s currently in.
   "Today we are here because the Board of Education did not take the money that was entrusted to them over the past few years and spend it wisely," she said. "It’s not your money, it’s the money of the entire township."
   After hearing all of the proposed cuts, Ms. St. John said she was unsure that any of them were viable for the district.
   "I know everyone was very thoughtful in their review of this budget, but … it’s going to be very difficult to cut anything from this budget," she said. She said the 1-cent decrease would save the average homeowner approximately $17 a year.
   "We truly don’t have a full understanding on the impact of what these (cuts) may (bring)," she said. "I just want to make sure everybody in the audience understands this is a $15 (savings) a year."
   With that, she proposed the committee vote to keep the school board’s proposed tax rate of $2.30 per $100 in assessed valuation. The committee’s 3-2 vote in favor of the keeping the tax increase was met with a standing ovation from the audience.
   "I would like to thank the committee for doing the right thing," Florence Gange, school board president, said.
   Mayor Tindall concluded the meeting with an admonition for the future.
   "Even though the communication between the school board and township committee is better, it’s not perfect," he said.