PLAINSBORO: WWP school budget held to 1.6 percent increase

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — The West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education approved a $155.9 million preliminary budget at its meeting Tuesday night, sending it to a public hearing at the end of this month.
   The 2009-10 budget, which has been submitted to the county superintendent, is set to increase 1.6 percent, or $2.4 million, over last year. After a joint meeting with the township governing bodies, a vote on formal adoption of the budget will follow a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. March 31 in the Community Middle School Commons.
   The school board election and vote will be held 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. April 21. Three seats on the school board also will be on the ballot — two representing Plainsboro and one for West Windsor.
   Of the total budget, a proposed $134.8 million will be raised by the local tax levy, an increase of .5 percent over last year, according to a presentation by Board Secretary Larry Shanok. The district received $10.7 million in state aid this year.
   Mr. Shanok said he was unable to provide a figure for the tax rate for the average assessed home based on this budget, pending a meeting with the mayors of West Windsor and Plainsboro.
   During the presentation, Mr. Shanok pointed out the small budget increase reflects six years of moderate increases. During this period, the budget increased an average of 4.3 percent from one year to the next.
   ”We’re not Johnny-come-latelys to budget moderation,” he said.
   He also noted the school district’s percentage of the total tax rate is expected to decrease as in recent years. In 2008, the district’s funding made up 68 percent of the taxes in Plainsboro and 60 percent in West Windsor. In 2000, those figures were 72 percent and 66 percent, respectively.
   This year, the budget includes $1.5 million for capital outlay as has been the tradition in years past, Mr. Shanok said. It allows the district to say on top of its most important projects, he said.
   However, funding for a planned $1.85 million solar project is not included in this figure, but, instead, will be taken from the district’s capital reserve. Solar panels are planned to be installed on the roof of High School South with a smaller project at High School North.
   The district has been offered a $576,000 grant for the project, which would be lost if the district did not go forward with it.
   ”If we don’t do the project, it’s not as if we can apply again,” Mr. Shanok said.
   Also at the meeting, the board awarded a bid of $446,000 for the replacement of the pool enclosure at the West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South. It received seven other bids on the project, which is expected to be complete by late June.
   The board also accepted the resignation of Thomas Smith, assistant superintendent for pupil services and planning, who will become superintendent at the Hopewell Valley school district. Board of Education member Randall Tucker thanked him for his work with the district.
   ”I think it’s a big loss for our district that Tom is moving on,” he said.
   He is not the only assistant superintendent who soon will leave the district. This week, the Robbinsville Board of Education President Michael Reca announced that Steven Mayer, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction for WW-P, was chosen as the board’s top choice to replace Superintendent John Szabo, who is retiring June 30.