Board of Education approves East Windsor Regional School District’s $66.6 million budget which includes a 26-cent tax rate hike for East Windsor residents.
By: Marisa Maldonado
HIGHTSTOWN The East Windsor Regional School District’s $66.6 million budget was approved by the Board of Education Tuesday night but not before more than 70 residents at the public hearing had the opportunity to give input on increased taxes and stagnant test scores.
At the end of the night, however, board members made no changes to the plan.
Residents will vote on the budget and on three school board positions on April 19. The spending plan includes a 26-cent tax rate hike for all East Windsor residents from $2.82 per $100 of assessed property value to $3.08. The proposed Hightstown tax rate hike is 18 cents, from $3.01 to $3.19.
A resident of Hightstown whose home is assessed at the average amount of $120,000 would pay $3,828 in school taxes, $216 more than last year. An East Windsor resident with a home assessed at the township average of $165,000 would pay $5,082, $429 more than last year.
Some residents noted that test scores are decreasing while tax spending has increased over time.
"My taxes have gone up by $3,000 or more," said Leonard Baskin, an East Windsor resident. "My complaint is, we don’t get enough back. Test scores have not improved in 10 years."
An organization of calling itself the East Windsor Alliance for Property Tax Reform distributed a handout detailing the decline of SAT scores at Hightstown High School over the last two years. Marc Sokol, an East Windsor resident, said he finds many of his children’s teachers "incredible" but thinks other teachers may not be performing similarly.
"The teachers who are not improving should be evaluated on their performance," Mr. Sokol said.
Some also placed blame on teacher’s salaries and benefits, which increase every year, and said the faculty, staff and administration should contribute financially to their health care costs.
"Unfortunately when we see the salaries increase of teachers and grades going down, that’s what gives us pause," said A.J. Groves, an East Windsor resident and member of the EWAPTR.
Despite an early outburst amongst the parents, the crowd remained at a murmur for the majority of the hearing.
One speaker who evoked strong applause was Jan Amenhauser, president of the East Windsor Education Association, who invited parents to form a joint "think out of the box" committee with teachers to help think of ways to reduce costs.
Ms. Amenhauser, a third-grade teacher at Grace N. Rogers Elementary School, said the No Child Left Behind testing had given the students harder standards to meet than some high school tests. While the revamped SAT requires one 25-minute writing section, the tests taken by third-graders require four similar sections.
"We’re not looking at a product," she said. "We’re looking at our children."
Some residents criticized Mr. Bolandi for an editorial he wrote in the Windsor-Hights Herald against a state constitutional convention on tax reform. Torry Watkins, a longtime resident of Hightstown, said the superintendent should not presume to know the needs of local residents.
"My right arm would probably wither before I voted no (for a school budget)," Mr. Watkins said to Mr. Bolandi. "But sir, you’re trying my patience."
Mr. Bolandi responded to criticisms by saying that New Jersey has too many school districts East Windsor could handle between 3,000 and 4,000 new students with the same administration levels and that East Windsor often gets caught in the middle of the funding cycle as a midincome district.
"Abbott districts get tons of money and no results," Mr. Bolandi said. "Wealthy districts can tax and spend. Who suffers is the middle."