By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN – The Middletown Township Public School District has adopted a $168 million budget that will add staff, update technology and curriculum and implement new programs for the upcoming school year.
The Board of Education adopted the budget by a vote of 7-1 at its April 26 meeting.
Board member Helene Henkel voted “no.”
“The Board has not made any changes to this budget since it was presented and approved by the board back in March,” Business Administrator Amy Gallagher said.
The adopted total budget for the 2016-17 school year, $167,903,250, is an approximately $3.6 million increase over the 2015-16 school year’s total budget of $164,298,191.
The proposed budget includes a tax levy of $133,982,086 — up from the 2015-16 levy of $131.4 million.
For township residents, the budget includes an estimated school tax rate of $1.341 per $100 of assessed value.
The owner of a home valued at the township average of $402,547 would pay $101.07 more in school taxes, a monthly increase of $8.42.
The proposed budget is in compliance with the state-mandated 2 percent levy cap law.
According to Gallagher, the tax levy funds approximately 86 percent of the budget; state aid funds 11 percent; the fund balance, money saved out of each year’s budget and dedicated to a future budget, has decreased from .83 percent to .67 percent; capital reserve funds about 1.2 percent of the budget and the remaining 1.13 percent is funded by a variety of sources.
Under the budget a total of 15.4 new positions are proposed to address specific needs that will be offset by seven projected eliminated positions across the district, resulting in a net personnel increase of about eight full-time positions.
Additionally, technology tutor stipends are proposed for all school levels to work with students and staff.
When the budget was originally introduced, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction Jill Takacs said the district will continue working on curricular revisions to align with adopted state standards, including the Next Generation Science Standards, and will continue professional development to support new adoptions, intervention programs and state mandates.
Gallagher said the district will undergo several technology initiatives for the 2016-17 school year including replacing three- and four-year-old Chromebooks, upgrading classroom and lab computers, wireless network improvements, additional projection/smart board installations at the secondary grade level and upgrading to the High School South’s television studio.
Capital projects included in the budget consist of the Middletown High School North track replacement; HVAC replacements at both the Middletown High School North and Middletown High School South bubbles; elevator replacements at Middletown High School North and New Monmouth Elementary School; continued floor tile replacements at Lincroft Elementary School in about nine classrooms; some other small building improvements and equipment purchases that are primarily in the area of facilities, such as cleaning equipment, and some vehicle replacements.
“The total increase in the district’s operating budget between 2011-12 and the proposed 2016-17 budget, which highlights a five-year period, is about 7.5 percent or 1.5 percent per year,” Gallagher said. “The total increase in the general fund tax levy for the same period, including the proposed 2016-17 budget is 8.2 percent or about 1.6 percent per year.
Gallagher said the district is always looking at cost-saving initiatives.
“We have in the past done debt service refunding, every year we review our health benefit options, we’ve installed a variety of energy-efficient equipment and are looking to do more on that, we’ve initiated numerous paperless systems and have an active shared services committee with the township,” she said.