By: centraljersey.com
MONROE – An almost $2,000 reduction in tuition costs per student for Jamesburg would mean Monroe school district’s revenue for next year would drop $580,765.
Monroe officials had anticipated this, however, when the budget was introduced March 3 so the tax levy remains proposed at $90,745,540 with the same proposed tax rate of $2,413 per $100 of assessed valuation,
The total budget, however, would be $102,926,020, down from $103,080,284 that was proposed March 3.
The public hearing on the budget will be held Wednesday, March 23, at 7 p.m.
Based on the tax rate, an owner of a house assessed at the average of $169,400 would pay $4,087.62 in school taxes this year if the budget is passed. This is a $360 increase from last year.
The Monroe Board of Education held a special meeting Tuesday to explain the changes in the tentative school budget, mainly the reduction in tuition costs for Jamesburg from $18,933 to $16,100 per student.
It also was held to discuss how Jamesburg students will begin to phase out of Monroe High School starting September 2012 – but a discussion regarding Monroe’s low state aid followed in the wake of those topics.
The $16,100 per student tuition rate doesn’t solve many problems for either Jamesburg or Monroe because it’s still about $1,100 more than Jamesburg budgeted for, and it has caused Monroe to look elsewhere for revenue and cuts.
To compensate for the revenue drop in next year’s tentative budget, the Monroe school district is counting on an extra $214,453 in state aid. Also, Jamesburg will pay an additional $212,048 owed from prior years for tuition costs. Monroe also will reduce its employee benefits from $18,204,546 to $18,050,282 if the tentative budget is passed.
The amount Monroe’s school district is receiving in state aid is still relatively low, however, compared to other districts of similar size, officials said.
In total, next year’s state aid for Monroe schools would amount to $1,125,818. This year, it is lower – a total of $238,696.
Monroe’s low amount of state aid in recent years is the main reason Monroe had to increase Jamesburg’s tuition rate from the projected $14,985 to $18,933 per student, officials said.
Mark Klein and other board members have been trying to get the word out about Monroe’s low state aid, sharing at meetings the disparity in state aid amounts between school districts.
Monroe school district, which has about 5,500 students, is receiving $204 per student in state aid. North Brunswick, which has about 6,000 students, is receiving $1,662 per student; South Plainfield, which has about 3,600 students, is receiving $2,100 per student, for example, Mr. Klein shared at the meeting Tuesday.
"You have to get involved," Mr. Klein said to the public. "Get your PTAs together, your mayors, your town councils. You’re angry."
"We’re going to be extremely aggressive in finding out if the numbers we receive from the state are correct," said Lew Kaufman, board president. "The numbers we’re seeing just don’t make sense."
He said despite low state aid, the school district, with much help from the public, will still manage to open up the new high school in September.
New Brunswick also recently built a new high school, but only after receiving $187 million from the state, equating to $85,000 per student, said John Leary, board member.
Mr. Kaufman said Monroe’s collaborative effort to build the new high school with such little state aid was remarkable.
"Everybody pretty much came together for the project in textbook fashion," he said. "It’s clearly revolutionary for something of that size."
He added, "We set a benchmark for the rest of the state."
