Public’s turn

Budget & questions set after state waiver

By: Dick Brinster
   After getting a state waiver to expand its tax base by more than $2 million, the East Windsor Regional Board of Education will now turn its focus on trying to convince voters to part with a little more of their money when they go to the polls April 17.
   The board adopted a $77.4 million budget March 29 that would save 21.5 of 50.5 jeopardized staff positions, the balance including seven teachers. The 50 staff positions were eliminated from the originally proposed budget because of property tax reform legislation, signed into law this week, that changed districts’ 4 percent annual cap on spending to a 4 percent cap on tax revenues.
   As part of the formula, the state Department of Education last month reduced East Windsor’s revenue tax base from 2006-2007 by $4 million, the amount the district spent on capital projects. But, just hours before the board adopted its budget, the DOE allowed the waiver.
   The adjusted district budget, with appropriations still nearly $2 million lower than the measure voters rejected last year, would set the East Windsor tax rate at $3.19 per $100 of assessed property value, down from the current rate of $3.24. The rate in Hightstown was reported at Thursday’s meeting as rising from $3.29 to $3.30 but Superintendent Ron Bolandi said Thursday that it stood at $3.28, after new information was received from the borough.
   The new rates would save the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $132,500 about $67. In the borough, where the average assessment is $120,000, the average bill would drop $12.
   Now, the public relations campaign to get a budget passed for the first time in three years moves into high gear. Board members have taken the approach that lower school taxes for local homeowners are not necessarily in the best interests of the community.
   "People have to avoid the knee-jerk, simplistic response when they go to the polls of ‘I don’t want to spend more when I can pay less,’ " board member Bruce Ettman said. "We really have to help the students because if the school district disintegrates, the community does as well."
   Mr. Bolandi is now trying to figure out where to put all the pieces, a chore made easier by the waiver that also allowed restoration to the budget of high school subvarsity sports and middle school intramural sports.
   "Now, we have to move forward and make an impossible situation better," Mr. Bolandi said, alluding to staff cuts. "We’re still losing 28 positions, even though they’re not all real bodies."
   He said some of the people who would have been affected will still have jobs because of retirements and shuffling of positions but said he was unable to say exactly how many.
   "I don’t like the fact that we lost staff," he said. "Everybody on the staff is part of the community."
   The board on March 29 also voted 8-0 to approve three additional ballot questions totaling $3.1 million. Voters would be asked to approve $910,000 to pay for 13 teaching positions, meaning seven positions set to be lost would be restored and six added. A separate question asks for $680,000 to put back nonmandated busing. Voters also will be asked to approve an all-day kindergarten — that would include seven new teaching positions to be filled by existing staff —for $1.5 million.
   Passage of all three would raise the tax rate in East Windsor to $3.38 per $100 and hike the average school tax bill $186 from 2006-2007. In Hightstown, on a new rate of $3.47, the average bill for schools would rise by $216.
   Board President Alice Weisman said voters should think of the value of their homes rather than the amount of taxes they’ll pay.
   "One of the most important things that creates a good property value is the quality of the schools," she said.
   She took issue with residents who would question the wisdom of the referendum for an all-day kindergarten.
   "If you’re going to move into a town, I think that’s one of the things you look at," Ms. Weisman said. "It’s a beneficial thing for a community, and it’s something that enhances property values."
   Mr. Bolandi said he was happy to receive the state waiver but not ecstatic because it was deserved. He reiterated that the $4 million shortfall was the largest in the state, where he said 100 districts were in trouble because of the funding formula change.
   "We had the dubious honor of being No. 1 on the hit parade," Mr. Bolandi said.
   His threatened lawsuit against the state is a matter still being discussed as is possible litigation against TriRidge Construction, fired in December 1995 for failing to met deadlines on some school construction projects.
   "That can help us with some of the money," Mr. Bolandi said the TriRidge matter. "But it’s not something we can bank on."
   He said the effort to retain the momentum gained in the last two years by a dramatic turnaround in results of students in state tests should not stop with the administration’s pleas to Trenton.
   "I would recommend to the board and the community that we keep up our fight and continue to ask the legislators to pass pressure legislation," Mr. Bolandi said.
   But he said much of the focus for the time being is determining the shape of the district for 2007-2008.
   Mr. Bolandi said passing the referendum questions is extremely important from an educational standpoint, and he touched specifically on the safety aspect of maintaining the nonmandated busing of about 1,100 of the district’s 5,000 students. Without it, some children the state says live close enough to walk to their schools will be forced to cross busy roadways.
   "I don’t like putting out courtesy busing as a question and have people vote on it because sometimes people in the community who don’t have children don’t realize how important it is to have those buses pick those kids up," he said.
   The road to adoption of the budget will be very difficult, said board members. Bob Laverty said taxpayers must be convinced that the schools are a worthwhile investment, but Susan Lloyd said they might already have heard the message.
   Ms. Lloyd said she was impressed by a turnout of more than 300 people when the budget hearing began March 26.
   "I think something good has come out of this," she said. "I’m hoping that this is a cohesive time.
   "Everybody has a stake in the district whether you have kids or not."