Several employees laid off in June got their jobs back because the state restored $960,683 of the $1.2 million cut from the school district’s 2010-11 budget.
At the Sept. 27 Board of Education meeting, board members voted unanimously to approve the appointments of mechanic Glenn Higgins at a pro-rated salary of $45,000; primary school clerk typist Nancy Arolla at a pro-rated salary of $26,961; part-time media assistant Sharon Qutub at a pro-rated salary of $8,231; and media specialist Francine Kamen at a pro-rated salary of $84,240. Kamen will work in the middle school library most of the time and divide the rest of her time between the primary and elementary school.
In addition, the board restored school nurse Lori Blazier, primary school social worker Jason Suleski and technology specialist Gerald Allutto to full-time jobs.
Business Administrator Bernard Biesaida said spending approximately $164,000 on salaries and benefits leaves the district with about $800,000 of the money the state put back into the district’s budget. The state restored the funding after the district appealed the budget cuts made by the Township Committee when the budget failed at the polls. The state deemed that the district would not be stable without the restored funds.
When the township passed a resolution to implement the $1.2 million worth of cuts, the district laid off all of its media specialists and assistants. Interim Superintendent of Schools John Szabo said that state law requires at least one media specialist in a district, and Kamen has seniority in the district. Szabo also noted that the schools had been operating with two full-time nurses and one part-time nurse, and had two children sent to the hospital in the past week.
Resident Neil Schloss said the votes of citizens who didn’t want the budget passed did not count, since the state restored the money. He said the state has given the district its budget back, and residents will be taxed for the difference.
Voters rejected the proposed $32 million school budget and supporting $26.7 million tax levy in a vote of 1,149 to 869. The Township Committee reviewed the spending plan and resolved to decrease the tax levy to $25.4 million.
Board President Kevin McGovern took issue with Schloss’ characterization of the budget process. He said the budget passes with a yes vote and is reviewed by the Township Committee when there is a no vote.
“That took place, and they made decisions as to what they felt were appropriate cuts,” he said. “The next part of the process is the board’s right to appeal. We had to show the cuts made by the Township Committee had a destabilizing effect.”
McGovern said the district is operating with a bare-bones budget, and the state decided that not restoring $960,683 would destabilize the school environment. He also said that this year the board would do a better job of turning no votes into yes votes, treating the district as a business, and finding new ways of doing things.
Board member Amy Jacobson said the state recognized that the district was in dire straits and has allowed it to start the rebuilding process. She noted that next year’s budget would start out $540,000 in the red and would have a 2 percent cap on increased spending.