PLUMSTED: Proposed school budget calls for new student fees

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   PLUMSTED — The Plumsted Board of Education is asking voters to approve a $9.7 million school tax levy for 2011-2012 that meets the state-mandated 2 percent cap, but also requires students to pay new fees to participate in sports and clubs.
   Voters will have the final say on the tax levy when school elections are held Wednesday, April 27. Three incumbents — Harry Miller, Sandra Soles and Barbara Wig — also are running in uncontested races for re-election to their seats.
   If the total $25.9 million budget passes on Election Day, the owner of a home assessed at the current townshipwide average of $378,600 would pay $3,844 a year in school taxes — an annual increase of $46, or 1.2 percent over the current year.
   The $25.92 million budget has a general operating fund of $22.96 million, a debt service fund of $2.51 million and a special revenue fund of $451,400. Only the $9.7 million tax levy, which is the total amount raised by taxation to support the budget’s general operating fund, is subject to voter approval.
   The new activity fees proposed for 2011-2012, which would be $25 per club and $50 per sports team, drew criticism at the March 29 public hearing from school staff and parents who predicted the cost would deter students from joining extracurricular activities and consequently weaken college applications.
   One teacher, who declined to give her name, said teachers at the high school were already fundraising among themselves to pay for class trips and prom tickets for students who couldn’t afford to attend these events. Instituting new fees to join school sports teams and clubs would be a hardship for many kids’ families and cause a drop in participation for extracurricular activities, she said.
   The new activity fees are expected to raise an estimated $34,000 a year for the school district, said Sean Gately, the school district’s business administrator.
   Students involved in band or the high school play would be charged the higher $50 “sports” fee that members of athletic teams pay because these extracurricular activities cost more to run than typical clubs. For students involved in more than one sport or club per year, the maximum annual fee would be capped at $100 for sports and $50 for clubs, Mr. Gately said.
   The school board’s plan to bring back middle school sports, but not freshman teams at the high school, also drew protests, especially from members of the high school coaching staff who stepped off returning team buses and went straight to the auditorium where the 7:30 p.m. school meeting was under way.
   The Board of Education told the coaches and Athletic Director Richard Carroll it was trying to restore some programs lost to last year’s budget cuts, but it was unlikely middle school and high school freshman sports could all be funded.
   Under the latest plan, the district would reinstate interscholastic middle school soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, baseball and softball, as well as intramural cross-country, wrestling, basketball, cheerleading, volleyball and track, by “reallocating” nine coaching positions to the middle school. This move would only leave enough coaches at the high school for junior varsity and varsity teams.
   ”Why aren’t we looking at other avenues to fund middle school sports other than just taking it away from the high school?” asked Jay Corby, who coaches basketball and lacrosse at the high school.
   ”Freshman sports are a big part building the athletic program’s success at the varsity level,” Mr. Corby said.
   Wrestling coach Kevin English told the board that freshman sports help children starting their first year of high school make a successful transition to their new environment. There aren’t recreational sports teams outside of school for students in grades 9-12 as there are for middle school students, so a freshman who doesn’t make a junior varsity team has nowhere else to play, he said.
   ”Middle school students have rec teams,” Mr. English said. “Ninth-, 10th-, 11th- and 12th-grade kids don’t have options.”
   After several parents in the audience said they thought taxpayers would be willing to pay an extra $10 or so a year so that all freshmen could play sports, Mr. Gately pointed out that the district’s proposed school tax levy — the total amount raised by taxation — is already at the maximum 2 percent increase allowed by law.
   If the district wanted to exceed the levy cap, state law requires that a second question be placed on the ballot to obtain voter approval for the added spending.
   This scenario was clearly anathema to school board members, who said a second school-spending question would fail and bring the whole school budget down with it. Board members noted the Township Committee has already placed its own question on the same April 27 ballot asking voters for permission to exceed the 2 percent cap on the municipal budget. The likelihood of a school cap waiver and a municipal cap waiver both passing on the same day was slim, officials said.
   ”In these economic times … if you start going above 2 percent I think you’re taking away our ability to pass this budget,” said Jon Hague, the school board’s vice president.
   Mr. Hague later asked his colleagues for their thoughts on providing freshman sports by doubling the activity fees — a move that would not affect the 2 percent cap because the money wasn’t being raised through the tax levy. Most board members said they did not think higher fees were the answer.
   ”If you double the fees, then it would also decrease participation” in sports and clubs, board President Harry Miller pointed out.
   Board member Sandra Soles said she was worried about the financial impact higher fees would have on families with more than one child.
   Kenyon Drive resident Gerald North, a former Plumsted schools superintendent, told the board that finding $20,000 to $50,000 for freshman and middle school sports was “peanuts” in the context of a $25.9 million budget. He said there was “maneuverability” in the budget in capital project costs and the salaries associated with two top administrative positions that have yet to filled.
   The board is currently searching for a new district superintendent and an elementary school principal because of retirements occurring in June; therefore, next year’s salaries for those positions are not finalized. There also is $428,644 budgeted for capital projects that the board wants to complete in 2011-2012 before grant opportunities expire. This includes $76,500 for high school auditorium lighting and $97,000 for sidewalks and curbs on school properties.
   Mr. Miller held out hope that funds for freshman sports could be found somehow if the budget passes. He noted that voters are being asked to approve a “bottom-line number” and that funds can be reallocated within the framework of that budget number if a “sustainable” way to pay for freshman sports is identified.
   Some residents urged the board to remember that other parts of the budget deserved their attention, not just sports. Among the priorities mentioned were the need to expand half-day kindergarten to a free full-day program and reduce the high student-to-guidance counselor ratio at the middle school.
   Mr. Gately said that expanding half-day kindergarten to full day would cost $175,000. Board members said the substantial price tag for that initiative pushes it off their radar screen for next year.
   Others urged the board not to get sidetracked by kindergarten and the freshman sports question. If the 2011-2012 budget is defeated on Election Day, it likely would lead to further cuts by the Township Committee and then the board will have a lot more to worry about, some people said.
   Janet Hague, of Bobbi’s Terrace, noted the people inside the high school auditorium who came to the budget presentation were passionate about the school programs they believed in, but not representative of the town as a whole.
   ”There’s 4,000 people who can vote on our budget who are not part of the school community,” Ms. Hague said.