Seeking to address long-term financial sustainability and overcrowding issues in the district, the Edison Board of Education has proposed a budget carrying a $153 tax increase on the average home.
School officials presented the $227.9 million budget for the 2015-16 school year at the April 22 board meeting. The tentative budget, which absorbs a 5.1 percent increase in spending, received board approval in March and has been approved by the county superintendent, according to school Business Administrator Dan Michaud.
A public hearing on the budget is set for 7 p.m. May 6 at the Edison Education Center.
The $199.2 million total tax levy is up $7.1 million, or 3.15 percent. The board is able to raise taxes beyond the state-imposed 2 percent cap through the use of banked cap space that was accumulated in prior years when the tax hike was less than 2 percent.
For the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $177,300, the increase translates to an additional $153 per year on the school tax bill.
In five years, school officials expect Edison to be the first prekindergarten through 12th-grade district in the state to be completely debt-free.
“Ultimately being the first school district to be completely debt-free by 2020 is an amazing accomplishment,” Superintendent of Schools Richard O’Malley said.
The district had debts that were slated to extend to 2023, but officials decided to condense the payments to clear the debt sooner. The expected payments are $3,512,031 in 2015-16; $3,540,141 in 2016-17; $3,583,712 in 2017-18; $1,998,738 in 2018- 19; and $1,873,675 in 2019-20, according to O’Malley.
State aid for the budget remains flat at $13,781,485. The district will receive $4.5 million in federal funding, along with $2 million leftover from the 2013-14 budget and $2.6 million from miscellaneous revenue, O’Malley said.
District officials have proposed the hiring of 16 additional employees — nine of them for teaching jobs. Woodrow Wilson Middle School is to receive one math teacher, one language arts/literacy (LAL) teacher, one physical education teacher and one guidance counselor.
John Adams Middle School is getting an LAL teacher; John Marshall is getting an English as a second language teacher; and Edison High School is getting new teachers for English/theater and physics. J.P. Stevens will receive a social studies teacher and a science teacher.
Other proposed positions are four high school guidance counselors for college and two lunch aides.
The spending toward instructional salaries is $97,637,013 — $2,760,692 more than last year. A total of 1,152 teaching positions, including the nine new posts, comprise $97,402,013, or 99 percent, of the spending.
The rest will go toward substitute teachers, home instruction, supplemental teaching salaries, teacher stipends and special education extended school year.
Total employee benefits amount to $40,662,000. After employee contributions of $6,750,000, the district is left with a cost of $33,912,000 for benefits — $468,252 more than last year..
Costs for transportation services are set to increase by $720,104.
Capital outlay for site improvement projects totals just under $2 million.
Student enrollment in the district is projected to increase by 110, and that trend is expected to continue, according to officials. Enrollment has been on the rise since 2009, including a major jump of 626 students from 2009 to 2010.
To address overcrowding, officials are planning a $7.3 million addition at Menlo Park Elementary School and an $8.5 million addition at Woodbrook Elementary School.
Renovations at J.P. Stevens are slated for 2018.