By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
If state aid to schools winds up being cut 15 percent as Gov. Chris Christie recently warned it might, the East Windsor Regional School District almost certainly would be looking at teacher layoffs and cuts in educational programs, according to interim Superintendent Michael Dzwonar.
”If we’re talking 15 percent, that’s a $3 million cut,” Mr. Dzwonar said Tuesday. “I don’t think there would be a district in the state that wouldn’t be looking at cutting administration, teachers, everywhere. No stone would be left unturned, but this is all hypothetical. We haven’t gotten there yet.”
The district received $19.5 million in state aid last year and has a tentative budget proposal of $77.6 million for 2010-2011, not including federal grants and debt service, which assumes it will receive the same amount this year.
Business Administrator Kurt Stumbaugh has said that figure is highly speculative and has a good chance of changing once Gov. Christie gives his budget address March 16.
Earlier this month, school districts received a warning from Gov. Christie that school aid could be cut by up to 15 percent next year as the governor wrestles with how to deal with a $2.2 billion budget deficit.
The dire forecast came one week after an executive order that forced districts to spend a large portion of their surpluses in lieu of promised state aid for the remainder of the current school year.
As a result, East Windsor lost $457,000 in promised state aid based on funds leftover in its capital and maintenance reserve accounts. Some of that money was expected to be used to repair and upgrade aging heating/ventilation/air conditioner systems throughout the district, Mr. Stumbaugh had said.
In the meantime, the district is targeting March 25 as the day when it will hold a public hearing on the 2010-2011 budget.
A tight calendar was causing some headaches for the district because the optimal times to hold a public hearing conflicted not only with spring break, but with a number of Christian and Jewish religious observances.
Mr. Stumbaugh said Monday that the district received a state waiver to truncate the four days required between the board’s budget adoption and public hearing to three days, making the March 25 date possible.
”This basically solves our scheduling problem,” Mr. Stumbaugh said at Monday’s Board of Education meeting.
The first scheduled board meeting after the governor’s address is March 22 and the deadline to approve a budget is April 3. In between are spring break, Passover, Holy Thursday and Good Friday.
Mr. Stumbaugh had suggested Friday, March 26, at 4:30 p.m. That is the earliest day after March 22 when the board is scheduled to vote on the budget proposal that meets the notification requirements, but some board members were not happy with scheduling the hearing during working hours.
Mr. Stumbaugh had suggested the early time to allow practicing Jews be able to attend before the Sabbath begins at sundown.
Last year’s budget came in at $83.2 million, making the school tax rate in Hightstown $1.65 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average tax bill for Hightstown homeowners is $4,463.
In East Windsor, last year’s budget created a school tax rate of $3.47 per $100 of assessed valuation. The average homeowner in East Windsor is paying $4,640.
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