The Lawrence Township Public Schools Board of Education approved its $76 million operating budget for 2019-2020, following a public hearing on the spending plan at the board’s May 1 meeting.
The budget increased by $3.8 million over the 2018-2019 budget of $72.2 million.
The budget calls for a 5-cent increase in the school district property tax rate – from $1.48 per $100 of assessed value to $1.53. For the owner of a house assessed at the township average of $282,000, school taxes will go up by $141 – from $4,173 to $4,314.
The budget requires $68.2 million to be raised in property taxes to support the 2019-2020 budget, or $1.7 million more than last year. Other sources of revenue include $4.2 million in state – up from $3.9 million last year – and $308,000 in miscellaneous revenue.
The main cost drivers in the 2019-2020 budget are salaries and benefits. Out-of-district tuition for children who cannot be taught in the school district went up by $417,721, or from $4 million to $4.4 million.
Looking at trends, school district officials said the cost of the special education program climbed by 21 percent between the 2017-2018 budget and the 2019-2020 budget. During the same period, the cost of the regular education program increased by 6 percent.
Many of the students who move into the district are at-risk, special education students, school district officials said. Those students have more needs and the cost to educate them continues to go up.
Transportation costs are another concern, school district officials said. Between the 2017-2018 budget and the 2019-2020 budget, transportation costs increased from $3.6 million to $4 million.
School district officials said they expect the renewal contracts for the school bus routes. The increase in the minimum wage and the requirement to provide sick time will likely affect the cost of bus routes, they said.
Breaking down the budget into spending categories, regular education accounts for 37 percent of the budget and special education is 21 percent. Security, maintenance and utility are 9 percent of the budget, and transportation is 6 percent.