BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer
HOWELL — Board of Education members voted June 1 to accept the $1.33 million cut made by the Township Council to the 2005-06 school year budget.
The board had proposed a $98.6 million budget that included an increase in the school tax rate of 7.5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. Voters rejected that budget on April 19, leaving it up to the council to recommend reductions in the spending plan.
The $1.33 million cut that the board accepted will trim the budget to about $97.3 million and result in a tax rate increase of 5.2 cents per $100 of assessed valuation.
What it all means is that the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will pay $104 more in K-8 school taxes in the coming year, rather than $150 more. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 will pay $156 more in K-8 school taxes in the coming year, rather than $225 more. The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay $208 more in K-8 school taxes in the coming year, rather than $300 more.
K-8 school taxes are one portion of a property owner’s overall tax bill, which also includes municipal taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes, Monmouth County taxes and other assessments.
School board Vice President Mark Bonjavanni said he and the rest of the board members were “horribly concerned” over the cuts they had to make to satisfy the $1.33 million council mandate. Stating that a 108-vote defeat was “hardly a mandate,” Bonjavanni said the board was nonetheless compelled to make the recommended cuts.
Reductions were made in the areas of sports and academic testing, as well as three specialized instructors, according to Bonjavanni.
“It’s the first time we’ve had to make cuts that reached into the classroom,” he said.
He said the cuts in sports will mean a consolidation of all middle school sports teams into one team per sport.
Bonjavanni said this means all middle school students in grades six, seven and eight will now compete for placement on one team each for sports such as basketball, soccer and cheerleading. And, fifth grade basketball teams were eliminated at all 10 elementary schools.
He said the team consolidation at the middle schools and the elimination of basketball teams at the elementary schools will provide savings through reduced busing costs and reduced staff costs.
In the area of testing, Bonjavanni said the district will no longer be conducting the Terranova test at the fifth, sixth and seventh grade levels. Instead, he said, the district will rely on the state’s promise to conduct the testing. He said if the state fails to make good on the testing promise, the district will not have any contingency money to step in and do the testing.
Bonjavanni said the Terranova test is an important scholastic instrument that is a nationally recognized ratings indicator that allows schools to measure their students’ scholastic proficiency on a national level.
The three specialized positions that were eliminated were teaching coaches for the differentiated instruction curriculum.
Speaking about the overall impact of the reductions, Bonjavanni said what was most disturbing to board members was the fact that the cuts would leave the district with only a $600,000 surplus.
Speaking for his fellow board members about the depleted surplus, Bonjavanni said, “We’re concerned. God forbid we have an emergency, if we do, we’re in serious trouble.”