NORTHERN BURLINGTON: Schools tie up budgets with elections looming

By Geoffrey Wertime, Staff Writer
   With school elections little more than a week away, local districts are setting their sights on finalizing the budget.
   In Springfield, the district is proposing a total operating budget of about $4.5 million, according to business administrator Dan Saragnese.
   Just over $3 million would be raised through taxation, a 4 percent increase over last year.
   The proposed tax rate is 71 cents per $100 of assessed home value, almost 2 cents above last year’s rate. For the owner of a home valued at the township average of $320,809, that would lead to a school tax bill of $2,278, $66 more than last year.
   ”It’s a pretty straight-up budget,” Mr. Saragnese said. “We really tried to stay within the box, rearrange our funding and make better use of it, so we took advantage of some retirements and rearranged that money.”
   If the budget passes, those funds will go toward three new positions: a part-time guidance counselor, a full-time media technology person, and a full-time supervisor of instruction. Programs would remain unchanged.
   ”There’ll be a lot of emphasis next year on integrating technology with curriculum,” Mr. Saragnese added.
   North Hanover is also proposing a 2-cent tax increase, which would bring the tax rate to 82.3 cents per $100 of assessed home value, according to Superintendent Richard Carson.
   The proposed total operating budget is over $22.2 million, about $2 million of which would be raised through taxation, a 3 percent increase over last year.
   For the owner of a home valued at the township average of $177,000, the tax bill would be $1,456.
   The district proposes cutting three regular education teachers, one each in first, third, and fourth grades. Dr. Carson said the average class size would increase slightly, from 16 to 17 students per class up to 18 or 19, but everything else would remain the same if the budget passes.
   New Hanover also plans to make some cuts this year, according to Superintendent Terri Sackett.
   ”Programs and staffing have remained the same, but we did not add any new initiatives like in years past,” she said.
   Administration will also change slightly. Ms. Sackett, who works full time and is both district superintendent and principal of the New Hanover School, is set to leave the district at the end of June.
   Her replacements are expected to be an interim superintendent who would work just one day a week, and a 10-month-per-year principal. She said many people have applied for the two positions.
   New Hanover’s proposed total operating budget is about $5.6 million, with over $1.5 million to be raised through taxation.
   The tax levy was not immediately available from the district.