Aschool budget that would have raised taxes by $89 on the average home was shot down last week by a margin of 380 votes.
The Sayreville Board of Education’s proposed budget for 2010-11 was rejected in the April 20 school election by a vote of 2,554 to 2,174. It will now go the Borough Council, which has until May 19 to order a cut.
Also last week, voters selected incumbent Thomas Biesiada and newcomers Daniel Balka and Helen Bruno-Racciua to fill the three available three-year terms on the Board of Education. Incumbent Curtis L. Clark III, who was running for his sixth term, fell short by 71 votes.
Clark said he was more disappointed with the budget’s defeat than his own loss in the election, but he was not surprised given the state of the economy. He said he will continue to be active in the community and will “see what the future holds” as far as running again is concerned.
“I can’t thank the community enough for allowing me to serve them for the past decade,” Clark said. “Sayreville schools are such a special place because of the people and students, and I’ve made lifelong friendships.”
The two newcomers took the majority of votes in the election, with Balka receiving 2,871 and Bruno-Racciua 2,470. Biesiada was third, with 2,404.
“I am very honored to be elected to the board and ready to get to work on the board for the students and the community,” Balka said. “I know that there is a lot of hard work that needs to be done, and I will put 100 percent into getting the job done.”
Bruno-Racciua said she is “extremely excited” to take on the new challenge.
“I am sure that this will be a difficult initiation because of the major cuts in the budget, but I will do my best to have the cuts make the least impact on the children,” she said. “There is a tremendous amount to learn, and I look forward to the experience.”
Biesiada, who will start his second term on the board, said he was thankful to the voters of Sayreville for re-electing him.
“I believe the voters have the confidence in me that I will make the right decisions that affect the education of the students and the costs related to it,” Biesiada said.
At $73.7 million, the proposed budget was down $1.5 million from the year prior. The budget includes a 17.5 percent cut in state aid, which went from $21.4 million to $17.7 million.
The board used attrition to reduce salaries and benefits and also nixed plans to add new teachers that had been planned in order to maintain current class sizes. Other items already cut include technology upgrades, supply purchases and some capital projects.
While many other area districts were forced to lay off staff members and cut programs, Sayreville school officials said frugal budgeting in prior years allowed them to avoid the need for cuts of that magnitude. The board’s budget also kept what it referred to as “high-value programs” such as courtesy busing and full-day kindergarten.
The budget included a tax increase of 3 percent, amounting to $88.53 on the average home, assessed at $144,000.
Voters seemed to be against a tax hike of that magnitude, according to Biesiada, who attributed the budget’s defeat to high taxes and the poor economy.
“People are taxed out,” he said.
If prior years are any indication, the Borough Council will obligate the school board to cut the budget further. Two years ago, the council ordered the board to cut an additional $1 million; last year, it ordered a cut of $264,000.
On Monday, the council authorized WISS & Co. to audit the school budget. The council will pay the firm, which it also used for the same purpose last year, an amount not to exceed $7,500.
“I hope that the Borough Council takes into consideration how much the state has already cut from the budget,” Bruno-Racciua said, adding she was “extremely disappointed” the budget was shot down. “So much has already been cut from the budget that I don’t know how to cut more without an impact on our children.”
Balka also expressed concerns over “the uncertainty of the cuts” to be made by the council.
“The cuts that are to be made should not put the goals of the board in jeopardy, which [are] to educate the students in the community,” he said. “The board has to continue to provide a quality education with the least amount of cost possible.”
Biesiada, who is on the board’s Finance Committee, said he and his fellow board members will look into “every avenue” in terms of making reductions that will have the least effect on the quality of education.