Proposed budget would reduce maintenance staff, adds teachers
By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Running the schools would cost Hillsborough taxpayers about 3 percent more, under a $120.8 million budget proposed by the school board Monday night.
The 2015-16 spending plan holds the line in most areas, but calls for the reduction in staff of two custodians, one maintenance staffer, one computer technician and one computer teacher “coach.”
The budget would add two English as a Second Language teachers, one elementary classroom teacher and one teacher of the deaf — all hired and working this year and being paid from current year’s surplus. The spending plan also includes hiring of two special education teachers and a parttime teacher of Chinese.
The budget also calls for $175,000 in vehicles and buildings and grounds equipment, technology networking equipment for $53,000, technology security cameras for $33,829 and an estimated $820,000 to repave the minefield that is the middle school parking lot.
As an example, the school board said a Hillsborough home assessed at $350,000 would see a $161 increase in local property taxes for schools. The tax rate would go up 2.9 percent, to $1.582 per $100 of assessed value. The current rate is $1.536 per $100 of assessed value.
In Millstone Borough, which sends its children to Hillsborough schools, the tax rate would go up 2.94 percent, with the tax increase at $165 on a $350,000 assessment.
Actual tax dollars rise about 3.78 percent in Hillsborough and 4.0 percent in Millstone. That’s about twice as much as the state-mandated two-percent cap on tax levy increases, and is only possible because the school is using $1.3 million in allowable cap space “banked” from previous years and $400,000 in a waiver of excessive healthcare costs.
This is the second year in a row that Hillsborough is using some of its “banked” cap waiver, which is the difference below the full 2 percent the district in previous years.
The board needed to act to send a tentative budget to the executive county superinetendent. Public hearing and vote on the budget is scheduled for Monday, April 27.
The budget maintains all programs and respects policies on maximum class sizes, Superintendent Jorden Schiff said.
Dr. Schiff said he hoped custodian and maintenance reductions could be handled by attrition. The superintendent said a ratio of custodians to students showed the reduction as possible.
Henry Goodhue, president of the Hillsborough Education Association, which represents teachers and support staff, asked the board to consider the “hidden cost of reducting these crucial staff members,” regardless of what industry rubrics might say.
Dr. Schiff said the district would apply for state aid “hopefully and optimistically” to offset the costs of repaving of the middle school lot.
Administrators, school board members and the public spent time discussing one picture in a slide show that showed state aid to Hillsborough schools remaining virtually flat for the fourth straight year. Hillsborough learned in late February it would receive just more than $25 million in state aid, the most in Somerset County.
Almost 75 percent of the school budget would come from local property taxes. Slightly more than 20 percent would come from state aid.
Mike DeLorenzo, a student who helps in theater program, asked again Monday for the board to find money to keep theater artistic director B.J. Solomon, who has told students he needs to find a fulltime job. Mike was told there are no new funds for co-curricular activities.
Mike reminded Dr. Schiff that he had said at a previous meeting that the budget was a reflection of the board’s priorities. He also said students might be deterred from seeking careers in theater should Mr. Solomon leave.
The vote on approving the tentative budget was 5-2. One of the dissenters Jennifer Haley, said she philosophically didn’t’ support the use of the healthcare waiver nor depleting our banked cap to achieve budget goals.
Flat state aid is “our new reality” and exceeding the 2 percent cap each year is not sustainable, she said.
“While I understand the need to revise curriculum, I believe questions need to be asked on the enormous cost,” she said Tuersday. “I mentioned I would ask more questions at future meetings, but one is if we have moved to one-to-one technology wise, do we need to spend such an enormous cost on textbooks, etc.”
Board member Dana Boguszewski also voted no, after asking about the status of surplus, or unbudgeted, money.
Board President Thomas Kinst said the district had been “very strong” in managing its money” and emphasized there had been no increase — not even for inflation — in four years.
Lorraine Soisson said the state especially needed to do something to address soaring costs in special education.
Steven Cohen, noting that he was in the audience a year ago, said sitting through budget committee hearings was a “cold bath” on his perspective. He complimented the administration for the professional and hard work with a constrictive budget. He warned taxpayers “there is no pot of money” coming from the state and said “every stakeholder” to get involved in pressuring the state and working to contain costs. He said he was impressed with the budget maintaining its academic excellence.
Judith Haas traced the district’s woes back five years to a $5 million cut in state aid and credited the teaching staff for continuing to give students high-class opportunities.