BY KAREN E. BOWES
Staff Writer
The Matawan-Aberdeen Board of Education has unanimously approved a $62 million budget, a 3 percent increase over last year.
For tax purposes, it amounts to about 19 cents extra on the current school tax rate for both towns.
If approved by voters April 17, the owner of a home with an assessed value of $200,000 would pay about $380 more per year. According to the board, the state will provide more than $11.5 million in aid. The local tax levy for homeowners is listed at $46.9 million.
During a public hearing on the budget March 26, Superintendent of Schools Bruce Quinn narrated a 20-minute slide show demonstrating where the $62 million budget would be spent.
According to Quinn, several new teachers and aides will be hired: two of each at the kindergarten through third-grade level, two teachers for the fourth and fifth grades at Lloyd Road School, three additional math teachers for the middle school, and one part-time math and one full-time language arts teacher for the high school. Also, the middle school cheerleading squad and Special Olympics program would be re-established.
In general, the district wishes to increase the amount of math time in the elementary- and middle-school levels, and to allow for more open computer lab time.
In the high school, the demand for Latin is so high the district may need a second instructor, Quinn said.
Instruction will cost $20.09 million, up 5.3 percent from last year. Employee benefits will cost $10.38 million, up 10.8 percent. Special education services and tuition will cost $8.5 million, an increase of 3.5 percent.
As for repairs, a new roof for the Cambridge Park School is needed at a cost of $225,000, Quinn said. More classroom space is needed at the high school to accommodate increased enrollment, he continued. This project is listed at $474,000.
“There are periods when there is no class space,” Quinn said later in the meeting. “Fifty sessions have been added. We have to have classrooms for kids.”
There are also mandated Americans with Disabilities Act improvements to be made, Quinn noted.
Only one resident spoke up during the public hearing. Bill Marinella, Aberdeen, asked board members to present a leaner budget, one with a better chance of passing at the polls.
“The school tax bill question asks simply, do you support a 19-cent increase or not?” Marinella said. “In reality the question is, do you favor a 19-cent increase if it passes or a 17-cent increase if it’s defeated? That’s where a certain hypocrisy or arrogance comes in. You know in the past that increases like this are defeated by large margins. Knowing what the majority of the public voted for, you should present to the residents a more honest and responsible school budget. … This budget leaves no choice. We’re getting a substantial tax increase no matter what the board said.”
Marinella’s five-minute prepared statement packed punches at the state and local governments.
“We can no longer use the scapegoat of lack of funding from the state,” Marinella said. “That excuse can no longer be tolerated like it has for the last 10 years. We need you, our [local] elected officials, to put an end to this shell game now. Meaningful reform is not coming from Trenton. And substantial expenditures need to be cut. We need you to better manage the finances in this union-dominated government monopoly.”
Each member of the Board of Education made a statement supporting the proposed budget.
Board member Gerald Donaghue spoke briefly about the need to fix the bureaucratic system of funding a school budget.
“The people in the unions need to know the situation,” Donaghue said. “We all need to work together and put our differences aside. … I understand Bill’s been on this side of the bench and he knows what’s going on.
“It’s time for survival,” Donaghue added. “We can’t just keep going at this pace.”