BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer
New text books, new technology, new teachers and a host of capital improvements will be provided by the Marl-boro K-8 School District Board of Education if voters approve a $78.5 million budget for the 2007-08 school year on April 17.
According to information presented by Business Administrator Cindy Barr-Rague, the budget includes new special education teachers; new honors language arts teachers at the district’s two middle schools; $369,000 for technology initiatives; $389,000 for capital projects; $208,630 in new textbooks for various grades; $1.2 million for contracted custodial services; as well as four replacement buses and two replacement 16-passenger vans.
The capital projects include a partial repair/replacement of the roof at the Marlboro Elementary School; replacement of underground storage tank piping at the Robertsville School and the Marlboro Elementary School to meet requirements of new code; replacement of the main gate at the school bus yard with a state-of-the-art electronic gate using an ID card for increased security; providing additional parking and lighting at the Marlboro Early Learning Center; replacement of inadequate gymnasium lighting at the Robertsville School and the Marlboro Elementary School; refurbishing of bleachers at the Marlboro Middle School; and resurfacing blacktop areas at the Asher Holmes School and the Marlboro Elementary School.
The budget includes $82,000 for the reinstatement of a 4:15 p.m. late bus from the district’s two middle schools.
A public hearing on the budget was conducted at the school district’s headquarters on Township Drive on March 27.
One parent who addressed the board said she believed that $82,000 would be better spent in the classroom than on an after-school bus.
Board member Cynthia Green also said she was not convinced that providing a late bus from the middle schools is the best way to use the $82,000.
Board member Murray Hoffman questioned the planned technology upgrades and capital projects. He asked if the projected 2.9-cent increase in the K-8 school tax rate could have been lower if those items had not been included in the budget.
Superintendent of Schools David Abbott said the technology upgrades are a key part of the budget and noted that board members had heard all of the information about what is being planned in that area. He acknowledged that upgrading technology is not an inexpensive proposition and said the administration appreciates the board’s support of that budget item.
As to the capital projects, Abbott said the money for the work that is being planned for 2007-08 has not been available in recent years, but is available now.
“We are investing in the most needy of those issues,” he said.
The board voted 8-0 to adopt its $78.5 million budget for the 2007-08 school year that will raise K-8 property taxes by 2.9 cents per $100 of assessed valuation if voters approve the budget in the April 17 school election. Barr-Rague noted that this is the smallest increase in the tax rate since the 2000-01 school year.
The tax rate to support the operation of the school district will rise from $2.013 to $2.042 per $100 of assessed valuation, according to information provided by Barr-Rague.
That means the owner of a home assessed at $200,000 will see his K-8 school tax bill rise from $4,028 in 2006-07 to $4,086 in 2007-08. The owner of a home assessed at $300,000 will see his K-8 school tax bill rise from $6,042 to $6,129 in the upcoming year. The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will see his K-8 school tax bill rise from $8,056 to $8,172 in 2007-08. The owner of a home assessed at $500,000 will see his K-8 school tax rise from $10,050 to $10,200 in 2007-08.
K-8 school taxes are one portion of a homeowner’s overall property tax bill. The tax bill also includes municipal taxes, Freehold Regional High School District taxes, Monmouth County taxes and several other assessments.
Barr-Rague said salaries and benefits account for 83.4 percent of the $78.5 million budget (approximately $65.5 million).
The school district’s budget for the 2006-07 school year amounted to $75.6 million.
According to information provided by Barr-Rague, the 2007-08 general fund will total $72.29 million and the general fund tax levy will be approximately $59.99 million. Residents will vote on the $59.99 million tax levy on April 17.
Residents do not vote on the debt service tax levy, which will be $3.97 million next year to support an overall debt service of $4.77 million.
The total amount of money to be collected from Marlboro taxpayers to support the 2007-08 budget will be $63.97 million if the budget is approved by voters on April 17.
For the 2006-07 school year the K-8 district received about $10.2 million in state aid; for the 2007-08 school year Marlboro will receive about $10.5 million in state aid. The state aid will pay for 14.5 percent of the district’s budget. During the 1997-98 school year, when the total budget was $36.9 million, state aid amounted to $9.7 million, or 26.3 percent of the budget, according to figures presented by Barr-Rague.
The district did not receive all the money it was due from the state in what is referred to as extraordinary aid, according to Barr-Rague. She said the district was eligible, by law, to receive $530,000 in extraordinary aid to be used to help pay for special education pupils, specifically those students whose education costs exceed $40,000 per year. Instead, the district received $123,000 in extraordinary aid.
Board member Joseph Waldman noted that programs for special education students will not be cut even though less than 100 percent of the extraordinary aid was received. Taxpayers will make up the balance of the funds, he said.
“There has been a continuous failure in Trenton [by legislators] to do what they have said they will do,” Waldman said, referring to the payments for special education tuition.
The Marlboro K-8 School District has six elementary schools and two middle schools. The present enrollment of 6,150 pupils is expected to increase to 6,170 pupils in 2007-08. The district’s enrollment in 1998-99 was 5,092 pupils. Enrollment is projected to reach 6,393 pupils in the 2010-11 school year, by which time the district will need another building, Barr-Rague said.
The median salary of a teacher in Marlboro is $50,190, compared to the median salary of a teacher in New Jersey, which is $50,778.