SOUTH RIVER — After two years in which they kept the school tax rate level, school officials said everything is now up in the air.
“It’s disconcerting [about] what might be,” Schools Superintendent Ronald Grygo said at the Board of Education meeting on March 1.
Gov. Chris Christie signed an executive order earlier this year freezing $1.6 billion in unexpended state funds, including $475 million in funds intended as state aid to school districts.
As a result, the South River district has already had to endure the loss of $750,000 in state aid for this budget year.
The frozen aid and expected cut in aid for the 2010-11 school budget has prompted some borough officials to get involved. At the Feb. 22 council meeting, Councilmen Rui Almeida and Peter Guindi, both Democrats, introduced a resolution opposing Christie’s executive order; however, the resolution was denied 4-2 with council Republicans stating that they did not want to vote on a measure when they were not sure where school administrators and board members stood.
The school board will discuss the issue on March 8.
“We will have it in closed session to discuss all the hypothetical situations with the board,” said Grygo, who added that the board will present a preliminary budget to the pub- lic after state officials announce state aid numbers on March 18.
The board unanimously voted in favor of drafting a letter to alert state officials of South River’s situation.
“We have to let them know that we have made sure that we have been financially prudent over the years, and our demographics are very important to mention,” board member Rick Rosenberg Jr. said.
Board Vice President Cynthia Urbanick added that state officials should know that South River has a “successful history of passing budgets.”
“We are being penalized for being fiscally responsible,” she said.
Board member William England said the loss of state aid is “frightening.”
“It makes me very nervous because with the potential aid cuts, how are we going to move forward?” England asked.
Grygo said it is significant to note that South River has the lowest per-capita cost per pupil in Middlesex County and the second lowest in the state.
“This is very significant for state officials to consider,” he said. “We hope at the very least we could receive a flat amount of state aid for the 2010-2011 budget year.”
The borough received approximately $12.5 million in state aid for the 2009-10 budget year.
In other business, the board voted 6-1 against a resolution requesting additional federal aid to the states from the American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The resolution notes that the board would like to get the district’s fair share of money; however, it did not want to further burden an already overburdened federal government. Board member Donna Rafano cast the only vote in favor of the resolution.
Board President Regis Wyluda and member Shenetta Turner-Smith were not present at the meeting.
New Jersey received over $1 billion in ARRA funding for education for the 2009-10 school year.