ROBBINSVILLE: School board OKs tentative budget

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — The Board of Education has adopted a tentative 2011-2012 school budget with a $31.5 million school tax levy that is $617,680 higher than the current budget and meets the state’s new 2 percent cap on levy increases.
   The vote was 8-0 on March 1 to adopt the preliminary budget and send it to the executive county superintendent of schools for review. A public hearing on the proposed spending plan is set for March 22 and the budget proposal goes to voters to decide on Wednesday, April 27, when school elections are held.
   The budget restores 3.6 of the 30 staff positions that were lost to last year’s cuts, allocates funds for curriculum and technology upgrades, sets aside more money for building maintenance, and saves for future capital improvements.
   School Business Administrator Bob DeVita said the tentative budget would increase the school tax by about $257 a year for the owner of a home assessed at the new townshipwide average of $385,000. The proposed $257 increase would bring the total annual school tax bill to $5,517 for that same homeowner.
   The $31.5 million school tax levy is the total amount raised through taxation and the portion of the local school budget that residents vote on. The $617,680 increase in operating expenses represents 2.5 cents on the local school tax rate and meets the requirements of the state cap law limiting increases to 2 percent.
   The total base school budget proposed for 2011-2012 is $39.3 million, which includes a $34.4 million general fund, a $4.4 million debt service fund and a $447,515 special revenue fund, Mr. DeVita said.
   Mr. DeVita noted Robbinsville relies on property taxes to fund 92 percent of the school district’s operating budget.
   ”Unfortunately, because of the way the state distributes state aid based upon what they perceive as the needs of the district … because we are a wealthier community they say you have to fund or shoulder more of the burden locally than we’re providing you at the state level,” Mr. DeVita said.
   The district was pleasantly surprised, however, to recently receive notice of a $338,538 increase in state aid for next year. The net increase, however, is really just $290,474 because the state is requiring the district to kick in $48,064 more to pay down the former NJ School Construction Corporation’s $8 billion debt.
   Nevertheless, a $290,000 increase is better than the flat state aid, or cuts, the district originally had anticipated, Mr. DeVita said. A portion will be used to restore 3.6 of the 30 positions that were cut last year after the state slashed Robbinsville’s aid by $1.7 million and township voters defeated the school budget.
   Due to last year’s layoffs, some English and history classes at the high school have class sizes in the mid-30s and some gym classes have more than 40 students per teacher, which presents safety concerns, Superintendent Steve Mayer said. The budget contains money to make a part-time English teacher full time, and hire a history teacher and physical education/special education teacher so that class sizes can be reduced.
   ”The high school has been building out,” Mr. Mayer said, noting RHS will have close to 900 students. “The high school has grown by 55 kids because a senior class of 164 is exiting and a freshman class of 219 is coming in.”
   At Pond Road Middle School, where the student-to-guidance-counselor ratio for grades 4-8 is about 600-to-1, the addition of a student assistance counselor (SAC) would help reduce the high caseload. The SAC certification also puts in place someone with specialized training to help students in grades 7-12 who have substance abuse problems or are in a crisis situation.
   The state aid also is being used to replace outdated technology and update curriculum, which is supposed to be done every five years but hasn’t been done for the high school freshman curriculum for eight years due to budget constraints.
   Another $180,000 is being placed in a capital reserve account to start saving for additional modular classroom trailers that will need to be added to the K-3 elementary school in a few years to handle projected enrollment growth.
   ”We’re not spending every penny we have, but rather are planning for the future,” Mr. Mayer said.
   Housing starts have slowed due to the economy, so “very few” of the 335 students who were expected to come to the district from already approved, but not yet built, housing developments have arrived at this point, Mr. Mayer said. The budget assumes relatively flat enrollment growth next year, which he called “a little bit of gamble, but an assumption which we are making in this budget.”
   Mr. Mayer said there are no additional teachers planned for grades K-8 at this point, aside from the reading resource teacher for students who need literacy support outside of the regular classroom. However, he noted a few grades were at a “pinch point” where an unanticipated surge in enrollment might require hiring another classroom teacher to keep class sizes manageable.
   ”The dollars to put teachers back in those areas are not in the budget at this point,” Mr. Mayer said.
   Mr. DeVita said school-operating expenses had increased an average 1.5 percent during the last three years, while districtwide student enrollment, which currently stands at 2,845, had risen 4 percent during the same time period.
   Robbinsville currently spends $10,779 per student on education, compared to a state average of $13,835, Mr. DeVita said. Compared to 69 similar K-12 districts, Robbinsville spends the fifth-lowest amount per student, he said.