By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
MONTGOMERY — Carpet replacements, parking lot light replacements, LED lights in Montgomery High School lecture halls, a pair of 54-passenger school buses and a 24-passenger van — those are among the items included in the school district’s proposed 2016-17 budget.
Business Administrator Annette M. Wells walked the school board through the facilities and transportation departments’ portions of the proposed budget at the board’s Feb. 9 meeting — the first in a series of presentations on the proposed spending plan.
Neither a final budget number nor a school district tax rate has been discussed thus far, because “the budget is a work in progress,” Ms. Wells said. The school board will be asked to approve a tentative budget at its March 15 meeting, which will be sent to the Somerset County Executive Superintendent of Schools for review.
Dave Klein, the school district’s director of facilities, outlined several projects that are included in the Facilities Department’s proposed $7.3 million portion of the overall school district budget. Those projects, which total $180,900, range from carpet replacements at the Orchard Hill and Village elementary schools to parking light lot replacements at Village Elementary School.
The public address amplifier in the gym should be replaced at the Lower Middle School. The stage doors also need to be replaced. At Montgomery High School, Mr. Klein has proposed a new door in the athletic trainers’ area, plus LED lights in the lecture halls, which will be brighter and also use less energy.
Mr. Klein also has asked for some new equipment, such as a Toro Workman — an all-purpose vehicle that can even be used to clear sidewalks of snow with a plow attachment. He also asked for a new pickup truck with a snow plow attachment and a new dump truck.
When school board President Christine Witt asked Mr. Klein why those items are being proposed for inclusion in the budget and not the upcoming March 8 school bond referendum, he replied that “you don’t want to put small things in the referendum.”
Turning to the Transportation Department’s proposed $4.5 million budget, Ms. Wells, the business administrator, told the school board that the district is responsible for busing 5,000 students daily with its fleet of 57 school buses. The district also hires private contractors to assist in transportation.
The proposed budget calls for buying two 54-passenger school buses, Ms. Wells said. The district needs to replace four school buses, but the plan is to buy two school buses and “contract out” the other two to transportation companies, she said.
Also, the school district is going to retire one of its nine 24-passenger vans and buy a new one. It is used to transport special needs students to their schools. The sole wheelchair-accessible van also will be replaced, she said.
