PLAINSBORO: WW-P schools to freeze sports budget

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — West Windsor-Plainsboro School District plans to freeze its athletic budget as part of an effort to limit the increase in its 2009-10 budget to 1.6 percent.
   At the Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, Athletic Director Martin Flynn said the athletic department would be cutting back to ensure that it would need no additional funding next year.
   ”We’re trying to do stuff to maintain our budget but also maintain the level of excellence,” he said.
   Under pressure from the community in light of the economic situation, the board is targeting a 1.6 percent increase in the budget over last year, which would translate into a $2.5 million increase in funds. It would bring the total proposed budget to $156 million. Budget increases over the past six years have averaged 4.3 percent.
   The level of participation is “tremendous” in the district’s 29 high school sports teams and 14 middle school sports and intramural teams, Mr. Flynn said.
   Cutbacks that he proposed included no new uniform purchases unless absolutely necessary, particularly for nonvarsity sports. Nonconference games would also be reduced, he said, and away games would be restricted to venues within a closer radius of the district.
   Meanwhile, costs for the athletic department, such as hiring referees, are on the rise, he said. To make up for this, in part, participation fees for outside teams to play in athletic tournaments hosted at the district will be increased, he said.
   The board also discussed several other budget topics at the meeting, including co-curriculars, administration, operations, maintenance and transportation.
   Thomas Smith, assistant superintendent of pupil services, said that all co-curricular activities are being audited in order to consider possible cutbacks. The combined proposed budget for co-curricular and athletics is $2.4 million, a decrease of 2.5 percent over last year, according to a presentation by Board Secretary Larry Shanok.
   Programs with little participation will be eliminated, Mr. Smith said. Co-curricular activities are those such as choir or band that occur mainly during school hours.
   ”The difficult part is that, like athletics, these programs really provide an excellent experience for our kids,” he said. The district is also considering a three-tier busing system for the 2010-11 school year, which would stagger school start times allowing for fewer buses, Mr. Shanok said. Meanwhile, parent requests for more after school late buses have been rejected due to costs, he said.
   The district’s energy costs will be kept flat in the proposed budget, Mr. Shanok said. Options for replacing older technology for more energy efficient products will continue to be examined, he said.
   Also with the goal of reducing energy costs, the district plans to pursue a $1.8 million project to install solar panels on district buildings, he said. The district was offered a rebate of $576,000 that would be withdrawn if not pursued in the upcoming year’s budget, he said.
   ”It’s either go ahead… or we let the opportunity pass,” he said.
   With hopes to ease costs for capital improvements, the district submitted $36 million in shovel-ready projects for government aid, Mr. Shanok added.
   The district’s general expenses by category were presented, drawing comparisons between this year and last year. In the proposed 2009-10 budget, instruction costs would increase by 2.4 percent over the previous year. Special services funding would increase 2.5 percent to $22.6 million. Other increases are 2 percent or below.
   The majority of the district’s nonoperating budget goes toward its debt service, at $10.6 million annually, according to the presentation.
   Projected local real estate taxes for 2009-10 would increase by .7 percent to $135,066,838, according to the proposed budget.
   A public hearing on the budget will be held March 31, the last day to register to vote. The last day to apply for an absentee ballot by mail is April 14. The school board election and budget vote will be held April 21.