Budget OK postponed amid battle

School district now seeks $2.1M waiver from state.

By: Dick Brinster
   HIGHTSTOWN — With adoption of the East Windsor Regional Schools budget delayed this week, Superintendent Ron Bolandi was trying to convince the state Department of Education to allow the restoration of $2.1 million to the district’s tax levy in an 11th-hour bid to save jobs and programs.
   He said he would know if his request would be approved before the Board of Education was scheduled to act on the proposed $75 million budget at a special meeting Thursday night, after this week’s Herald’s deadline.
   It began a hearing Monday night on the spending measure, but had already been ordered by Mercer County Superintendent Michael Klavin, a state DOE employee, to delay adoption until Thursday because the restoration plea and proposed ballot questions had not been approved by his office.
   Mr. Bolandi laid out a proposal he says would give the district the ability to spend about half of a $4 million shortfall it would incur if Gov. Jon Corzine signs legislation aimed at changing the state’s school funding formula. Mr. Bolandi said approval would enable him to restore 22 of 50 staff jobs on the chopping block along with high school sub-varsity and middle school intramural programs.
   With no relief from the proposed law to change the method of funding budgets from a 3 percent spending cap to a 4 percent cap on local taxes, Mr. Bolandi said Monday that up to 50.5 staff positions would be cut. The number of cuts foreseen earlier this month was 43.5 but rose when the district realized it could not cut funding for supplies to the level it believed possible, he added later in the week.
   An earlier request for a cap waiver was denied by the state, but Mr. Bolandi, who also is proposing a ballot question for April 17 that would restore 19 jobs, is trying again.
   "The difference is that we’re not doing a restoration of the $2.5 million," he told about 350 people gathered at Hightstown High School, alluding to the amount taken last year from surplus to complete construction of the Ethel McKnight Elementary School and combined with another $1.5 million to make other capital improvements.
   Mr. Bolandi said he would not have completed the projects had he known the amount spent would ultimately be reduced by the pending state law. The pending cap would mean the district could raise $50.3 million in tax revenue as opposed to $54.5 under the current law.
   He said the district, which has made dramatic improvements over the last two years in state testing scores, has to suffer the consequences should it remain $4 million short.
   "It will retard our growth," Mr. Bolandi said. "I’m not crying wolf."
   In addition to Mr. Bolandi’s new attempt, Assemblyman Mike Panter, D-12th, told the crowd at the high school auditorium that there might be another possible avenue to a remedy. He said the Office of Legislative Services, the legal team for legislators which drafted the bill, said after the initial rejection of the local waiver that they believe the DOE can issue one.
   "We have asked them to give us a written option that we can march into the governor’s office with," he said.
   Mr. Panter said there also is the possibility of a conditional veto if Gov. Corzine does not sign the bill within 45 to 60 days of its adoption by the Senate on Feb. 5. Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, R-12th, has asked the governor to conditionally veto the bill and call an emergency session of the Legislature before the April 17 election to deal with problems created by the bill both she and Mr. Panter voted for last month.
   "A-1 (the bill) was voted on in the middle of the night with little time for review," Ms. Beck said in a statement last week. "Although I voted for it to give some semblance of tax relief to my constituents, I spoke out on the floor of the Assembly against passing legislation in this manner."
   Mr. Panter’s chief of staff, Dan Reilly, said Wednesday that the governor can go beyond the 60-day limit if the Legislature is not in session. It is not at this time, and isn’t expected to return to Trenton until May.
   That timing, combined with the DOE rejection of the waiver and its order to the districts to adhere to the new proposal has created uncertainty about how to proceed with adoption of the budget to be put before voters.
   "The reality is, in my opinion, we’re still technically under last year’s law," school board attorney David Coates said Monday. "It’s an anomaly, but it’s the way the state Department of Education is interpreting it and we’re running against the state, which is saying ‘This is what you must do.’ "
   If all attempts to find a remedy fail, Mr. Bolandi has said the district would have to sue the state. Neighboring Washington Township already has done that. But Mr. Coates said a suit from EWRSD could be avoided as a result of ongoing discussions with Trenton.
   "If the state works with us, we’ll work with them," he said. "If we don’t get what we need from the state, my recommendation will be to take legal action."
   Mr. Bolandi also spoke Monday of secondary ballot questions on items not included in the proposed budget that he would like to put before the voters should the DOE permit them.
   "We want them to allow the community to make that decision," he said of courtesy busing — the nonmandated transportation of about 1,100 of the district’s 5,000 students.
   "You know what the traffic jams would be at the schools without courtesy busing," said Michele Connolly of East Windsor.
   The cost to taxpayers would be an additional $680,000.
   Another initiative would add 19 staff jobs at $1.1 million.
   "Allow the community to vote on the extra staff that I already cut," Mr. Bolandi continued in explaining his plea to Trenton. "Give you (the voters) the opportunity to vote if you want to raise yours taxes. It’s your school district, your kids."
   A final ballot question, that would add $1.5 million to the budget, would establish all-day kindergarten.
   The wisdom of putting all-day kindergarten to a vote was questioned by Joe Sullivan, of East Windsor, who alluded to the school board’s earlier verbal commitment.
   "This is basically what I consider a political promise to try to get full-day kindergarten," he said, adding that its presence could cause a problem for "the critical issues" of busing and teachers.
   Mr. Bolandi said the board felt it had an obligation to commit to all-day K as soon as its building program was complete, something that became a reality when McKnight opened in September.
   Without changes to the tentative budget, the owner of a home in Hightstown assessed at the borough average of $120,000 would pay about $75 less than a year ago. In East Windsor, where the average home is assessed at $132,500, the tax bill would be lowered by about $161. The tax rate in East Windsor would be $3.12 per $100,000 of assessed valuation, a drop of 12 cents from last year. In Hightstown, the tax rate would fall 6 cents to $3.23.
   Approval of all three proposed ballot questions would add 19 cents to the rate in East Windsor and 20 cents Hightstown. Approval by voters would add about $23 to the tax bill in East Windsor and about $19 in Hightstown.
   Approval by the state of the $2.1 million cap adjustment would limit staff cuts to 28.5, including one administrator, 6.5 teaching positions and 12 paraprofessionals.
   Approval by voters of the staffing referendum proposed by Mr. Bolandi would restore 19 of 50.5 jeopardized positions, including 13 teaching spots.