By: centraljersey.com
Although still awaiting comprehensive guidelines from the state for budget construction, the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education will present a tentative budget to submit to the county at the board’s next meeting.
"It’s been a short process given how the state is dribbling out information to us," said Larry Shanok, the assistant superintendent of finance. "But we need to stick to the timeline. What we turn into the state isn’t final, but the county superintendent will expect it to be close to final."
The board must submit an itemized budget to the Mercer County superintendent of schools by March 4. Gov. Chris Christie is expected to propose the state budget on Feb. 22.
In Mr. Shanok’s second budget presentation at the board’s Tuesday night meeting, the discussion was again general about the district’s ways of building a responsible budget while minimizing "painful reductions" that impact student life. He spoke about the budget’s guiding principals, including state measures of efficiency, studying enrollment figures, evaluating quality of education, and enacting proactive measures for future savings.
Though officials have not been able to provide a specific breakdown of revenue and expenditures, preliminary figures show that three fixed expenditures could affect how much money is left in the general fund – the taxpayer money that accounts for more than 90 percent of the budget.
The board is predicting $4.4 million in spending increases from the previous year, including $3.6 million in staff benefits and contractual requirements and an $800,000 allocation for the Princeton International Academy Charter School, scheduled to open in September if approved by the state. But under the state-imposed 2 percent cap, the budget cannot increase by more than $2.7 million.
Mr. Shanok’s presentation seemed to allay public concern that despite this year’s challenges, the district has an excellent track record of providing quality education with a reasonable budget that is consistently lower than the state average.
Mr. Shanok showed that budget-to-budget increases have varied greatly since 1995, but in the last few years, the increase has remained low and stable.
"The last two years have been extraordinary for us," he said. "Last year’s increase was 0 percent, and the previous year was only 1.6 percent. That’s distinctly different compared to previous eight years and that clearly shows the impact of what we’re doing."
Mr. Shanok said per-pupil spending has been consistently low compared with neighboring districts, even though the district’s student enrollment has risen by 12 percent in the past 8 years. But student performance hasn’t suffered as a result, he said.
Russell Lazovick, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, presented the student performance data of 2010, which ranked district students’ performances on standardized tests among others in the county and state. In nearly all categories, the district had one of the highest percentages of students performing at the proficient or above proficient level.
"In 2009-10, the SAT scores were in the top eight of New Jersey public schools," he said.
The board’s next meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 22 at the Community Middle School.