Board to hear superintendent’s recommendation
By:John Patten
It’s cold this week, but it will surely heat up next week in Hillsborough at least in the high school auditorium when Superintendent of Schools Robert Gulick introduces his budget proposals for the next school year.
The budget will be presented at a special Board of Education meeting set for 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Dr. Gulick has been tight-lipped about the budget, even saying he wasn’t sure what he would be proposing at this week’s board meeting.
"One of the things I’m struggling with right now is what will be my proposed budget for 2004-05," he told board members after reviewing the recommendations of an athletic programs task force that met earlier this month.
The school budgets have fared poorly at the polls for the last two years, with more than $1 million being cut from the defeated spending plans each year. After final reductions last year, the 2003-2004 school budget was at $84.1 million, with the tax levy at $55.6 million.
Athletic programs discussed in Dr. Gulick’s review of the strategic plan’s recommendations ice hockey and volleyball were included in the previous budgets but cut after the ballot defeats.
Although the sports programs were part of previous athletic strategic plans, the group of administrators, board members and parents writing the plan maintained Hillsborough should add the new sports.
"Certainly, there will be a lot of discussion about what we can afford to include in the budget," Dr. Gulick said.
The board approved a schedule for the budget process leading up to the April 8 balloting, including advertising the final budget proposal on March 25, and holding a public hearing and adopting the budget on March 29.