$14.9 million school budget faces voters

Polls open 2 p.m.-9 p.m.

By:Donna Lukiw
   Manville residents will determine if the school district will be reinstituting libraries and hiring more teachers, as the proposed school budget outlines, in Tuesday’s school elections.
   The proposed $14.9 million budget, a 2 percent increase over last year’s $14.6 million budget, would increase the school portion of local property tax bills 1.23 percent from the current tax rate of $1.968 per $100 of assessed property value to $1.992.
   School taxes would rise $36 a year, from $2,952 to $2,988, for a property assessed at the borough average of $150,000.
   The local tax levy would be $10,666,895, a 5.5 percent increase over last year.
   "This is the first time in a long time we can really focus on the curriculum and students’ needs," board member Dorothy Bradley said. "This is a bottom line impact directly on our students and their education."
   The budget also includes three new positions in the district: a reading specialist at Weston School, a language arts teacher at Alexander Batcho Intermediate School (ABIS) and a special education teacher for a self-contained class at ABIS. The libraries at ABIS and the high school would be reinstituted with the help of a part-time librarian at both schools.
   The budget would also include refurbishing the high school gym floor, refurbishing the high school track, new stage curtains for Roosevelt, and repainting ABIS lockers.
   Voters also will vote to fill four seats on the Board of Education, with four current members seeking re-election. Dorothy Bradley, Lisa Galasso and George Jakelsky running for three, three-year terms, with Mike Impellizeri running to fill the remaining year on Jeanne Golden Nowak’s term. Ms. Golden Nowak died in November.
   Polls will be open from 2 to 9 p.m. at Alexander Batcho Intermediate School at 100 N. 13th Ave., Weston School at 600 Newark Ave., and Emmanuel Baptist Church at 34 S. Third. Ave.