By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District’s proposed $174.7 million budget for 2017-18 has been approved by the school board, clearing the way for its review by the Mercer County Superintendent of Schools., A public hearing on the budget has been set for April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the school district office at 321 Village Road East., The proposed budget, as introduced at the March 20 school board meeting, calls for an increase in the total property tax levy from $155.4 million to $158.7 million., However, the tax impact for properties in the two townships has not been determined, school district officials said, because the district does not have updated assessed values from West Windsor or Plainsboro officials., Other sources of revenue include $8 million in state aid and $5.2 million in fund balance, or surplus. Miscellaneous revenue accounts for $2.9 million., On the spending side, there were increases in the cost of the special education program, the regular education program and transportation., The special education program cost went up by more than $1 million – from $27.5 million to $28.6 million. It includes instruction, the child study team and support services., The regular education program budget also increased by $931,111. It went up from $51.9 million to $52.8 million., Transportation costs grew by $132,579 for 2017-18. The current budget allocated $10.9 million for transportation, but the proposed budget calls for $11.1 million in spending., Pointing to the state Department of Education’s “Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending 2016,” Business Administrator Larry Shanok said the per-pupil spending in West Windsor-Plainsboro is less than in the Princeton and Montgomery public school districts., In 2014-15, the West Windsor-Plainsboro public school district spent $12,982 per pupil. This compares to $18,287 for the Princeton Public Schools and $14,102 for the Montgomery Township public school district.
