The Hoboken Board of Education met Tuesday to introduce their $59.36 million budget, up from $56.3 million last year. Despite the approximately $3 million overall increase, the budget will cause the school tax rate to drop by 1.82 percent, saving homeowners $55 on properties assessed at $250,000 in this tax year.
Although costs for contractual obligations, health insurance, fuel, and guidance counselors for the elementary schools are higher, according to Business Administrator Brian Buckley, the decrease in the tax rate was attributable to an increase in tax ratables in the city, which spread the tax burden over a larger number of taxable properties.
The board approved an introduction of the budget. The board will hold a public hearing and a final vote at a future meeting.
The board met at the Wallace School Auditorium rather than their usual meeting space, which provided more room for the public. However, the extra room was not necessary, as few members of the public attended.
This was a change from recent meetings in which many parents came to criticize the board’s intention to fund a dual-language program for the younger grades. Ultimately, the program failed to pass.
Public vote
The school board will hold a public hearing on the budget Tuesday, March 31. They may amend the document before they vote on final approval.
Then, the budget will be presented to the public for a vote during the school board election on April 21. The public can also vote for three candidates for three board seats that day.
If the public votes against the budget, it can go to the City Council for further cuts. Since the city’s financial decisions are presently being overseen by state monitor Judy Tripodi, some observers say the cuts might be harsh.
Layoffs may affect 15 support staff members
Schools Superintendent Jack Raslowsky said last week that the school worked hard to present a budget with a tax cut, especially with taxes rising from other local entities.
“These are the only cuts made around here in a while,” he said at the meeting. “This is progress we can be proud of at this point.”
The public was not given a copy of the budget, just an overview sheet that outlined certain information.
At the meeting, Raslowsky said personnel cuts are imminent, but was not specific.
However, one district source said the cuts will most likely not focus on teachers, as they did last year, but rather on other staff. Another source said the cuts could put roughly 15 employees out of work.
Per-pupil cost still high
For many years, the per-pupil cost in the district has been one of the highest in the state. Dividing the projected budget for the 2009-2010 school year by the projected 2009-2010 district enrollment numbers distributed by Raslowsky Tuesday – 1,993 students – gives a per-public cost of $29,784 per student.
When the state calculates such costs, it often tries to make a fairer comparison by leaving out certain costs unique to some districts and not others, like transportation and reimbursable special placement for disabled students.
Raslowsky said that not counting certain costs, the comparative per-pupil cost has been reduced from $24,808 last year to $21,838 for the 2009 budget. This represents an 11.9 percent decrease in per-pupil cost. The state calculates the numbers lower.
In a 2008 comparative study of school districts by the state, Hoboken’s per-pupil cost was second only to Asbury Park among the “Abbott” special needs districts. Abbott districts were formed after a series of state Supreme Court decisions over 10 years ago declared that children in financially strapped districts deserved an education commensurate with more wealthy districts, which can provide more funding from residents’ high property taxes.
What sets Hoboken apart from the other 30 Abbott districts is that local taxes support 64 percent of the school budget, while the next closest district as per local tax contribution is Neptune, which only covers 39 percent of their school budget. Asbury Park and Newark, the two closest comparisons to Hoboken as far as per pupil cost, only contribute 7 and 10 percent from taxes, respectively, according to the study.
Few residents respond
To combat costs, Hoboken is reducing staff, but the district is also trying to increase student population. Raslowsky said in his presentation that the district is projecting an increase of 101 students next year, which amounts to a 5.3 percent increase.
Only a few members of the public spoke at the meeting. Liz Mulholland, who is a campaign staffer for the “Kids First” slate of board member Theresa Minutillo, Ruth McAllister, and Maureen Sullivan, asked the administration where the programming funds saved in last year’s budget have gone.
Raslowsky said the majority of the funds were used for the expansion of the Johns Hopkins Gifted and Talented program, curriculum restructuring, and other expenses. The remainder, he said, was carried into this budget as surplus. “There’s no more money to be spent there,” he said.
Another speaker, Mary Ann Camporelli, voiced her displeasure with board candidate Maureen Sullivan, who allegedly “flipped the bird” to board member Carmelo Garcia recently.
Sullivan spoke a few minutes after Camporelli, but did not address the gesture, which at least four school and board officials confirmed seeing during an argument she had with Garcia at a previous board meeting.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.