The North Brunswick Township school budget passed by more than 140 votes April 20.
The tally was 1,960 to 1,816 in support of the $71.77 million local tax levy. Cheers were heard in the municipal building, where the results were tabulated, as soon as officials were certain of the town’s victory.
“It’s very rewarding. It’s very rewarding for the children. We worked hard to prepare the budget over the course of the last three months with various scenarios and many surprises, and I think … we convinced the community that we care about the children. We all had to make sacrifices to get it done during this particular economic crisis New Jersey is in,” said Superintendent of Schools Brian Zychowski.
The district had to deal with a $4.1 million reduction in state aid, a short time frame to present the budget to the public after the reduction announcement was made, the coordination of budget meetings with various stakeholders in town, as well as ongoing contract negotiations, which were settled by 4:30 a.m. April 16 with a tentative threeyear contract for more than 800 district employees.
Because of the contract settlement, which included a oneyear salary freeze, about 40 positions and full-day kindergarten will be restored. However, about 60 positions, athletics at the middle school and freshman level, and administrative structures could still be affected. Zychowski did not know the specifics on election night.
“It was a promise from the board that if we passed this budget and froze salaries, this coming year we would return as many teachers to the classroom as possible,” he said.
In addition to the budget vote, incumbents Richard Liguori and David Higham and newcomer George Callan were elected to the board, basically unopposed.
“I think it’s tremendous,” Higham said about the budget passing. “I think that the Board of Education and the Education Association reached a tremendous tentative agreement, which will preserve more jobs and help us to accelerate our educational programming for children.”
Liguori commented that he is “elated” that the budget passed, saying that there was “a lot of hard work on a lot of people’s parts. We had a message and brought that message to the people. We understand this is a tough time, and we are more than happy that the budget passed.”
He said he is “excited” to be back on the board for his second term, but that “now we have to continue to watch every nickel we spend. I think that’s what people want and I think that’s what we have to do.”
Callan, who will be serving his first term as an elected official, mentioned that his focus will be “helping our students receive a great education, especially with the constraints we’re facing statewide.”
“It’s going to be an interesting year. I’m going to learn a lot,” he said. The Board of Education will hold reorganization meeting April 26, and regular public meetingApril 28, at 7 p.m. at the board office, Old Georges Road.
Contact Jennifer Amato at [email protected].