Weehawken Superintendent of Schools Kevin McLellan and Board of Education President Richard Barsa took a trip to visit Gov. Jim McGreevey’s home a few weeks ago, along with other school administrators throughout the state, to discuss the future of state aid in education.
“My worst fears were that he was going to tell us that he was including education among the governor’s budget cuts,” McLellan said. “I was expecting a cut, but we were able to keep it the same.”
Although Weehawken’s approximate $2.3 million in state aid will remain the same for the fiscal 2002-2003 year, the total is still disproportionate with other districts in the state.
“Most school districts receive about 30 percent of their budget through state aid,” McLellan said. “Weehawken receives about 18 percent of its budget through state aid. Although we’re still lower than most [because of the higher average property value], we’re still happy to be receiving the same state aid [as last year].”
With that information in hand, the Weehawken Board of Education presented and adopted its annual budget at its meeting Wednesday.
The spending plan calls for more of the same programs that have been in place in recent years for relatively the same cost.
The total Board of Education budget for the next fiscal year, running from July 1, 2002 through June 30, 2003, stands at $14,366,000, an increase of $900,000 from a year ago.
Nearly two-thirds of that increase ($600,000 of the $900,000) will go toward paying contractual obligations and the rising costs of health benefits for the district’s employees.
“Health benefits went up $250,000 alone,” explained Barsa, who also works in the township’s finance department. “Special education costs are also up.”
The portion of the money raised by property taxes went up $319,000, but Barsa feels that that total will be offset by the development of the 42 brownstone homes that are being constructed along the waterfront, as part of Roseland Properties’ Port Imperial North complex. If more properties chip in, each pays less.
Although the homes have not yet been built, Barsa feels that they will be built and occupied soon enough that the Board of Education will be receiving funds via property taxes on those homes within the current budget.
“We anticipate the homes will be done, and we have time to offset the number if they are not done,” Barsa said.
Barsa said that the school board has a surplus of $280,000 which will carry over to this budget in order to pay some outstanding bills that have yet to be paid.
“That happens every year,” Barsa said. “There is always a carry over. The remaining balance will come from the surplus, so there will be no increase in taxes to the residents. This budget should have no effect on the current residents.”
McLellan assured that all of the district’s existing programs will remain intact.
“Every student will have the same educational opportunities that they have received in the past,” McLellan said. “Nothing will change. When you consider we have 1,200 students within the district, that’s an accomplishment in itself. There are some things that we have no control over, like health benefits and special education costs. It’s still a little too early to see where the state’s economic state will have an effect on us, but for now, we’ve been able to achieve our goal of keeping costs to a minimum while maintaining our programs. That was our main objective.”
The proposed budget will appear on the April 16 Board of Education election ballot, giving voters the opportunity to either approve the budget or turn it down. If they vote it down, it will go to a committee of the City Council for further cuts.