Schools take 'drastic steps' after state aid reduced

By LAVINIA DECASTRO and CAROL COMEGNO
Courier-Post Staff

As they prepared to meet the April 3 deadline for finalizing school budgets, school boards throughout the tri-county area proposed plans that include layoffs, cuts in spending, increases in fees and tuition and other ways to deal with cuts to their state aid.

Some school districts have fared better than they hoped.

At Collingswood's school budget meeting on Tuesday, about 10 positions were proposed to be cut, down from earlier projections of as many as 29 positions.

"I don't think that any district in the state has faced this before," Superintendent Scott Oswald said. "There are very close neighbors to us who are reducing three times the amount of staff that we're reducing."

Haddon Township is one of those districts.

Struggling to close a $3.9 million gap, the district will likely lose more than 40 full- and part-time positions, Superintendent Mark Raivetz told the roughly 80 residents who attended Wednesday night's budget hearing at the high school cafeteria.

But even with the difficult decisions being made, school districts have found ways to persevere.

In Washington Township's meeting Wednesday night, there was a sense of working together. Board president Eileen Abbott thanked all the unions that had made concessions, saying "I've always believed we're a family and we look after each other."

The auditorium erupted into cheers and whistles as the audience stood and turned to applaud the union members present.

Gerry Taraschi, president of the Washington Township teachers' union, said all of the unions are amenable to any ideas the board has to addressing the budget gap -- and echoed a sentiment many boards and school staff are feeling about the state aid cuts that Gov. Chris Christie announced in March.

"We face unprecedented times where drastic steps have to be taken by all," Taraschi said. "We hope we can come to some kind of agreement to work past this crisis . . . We are not the enemy, not anyone on the board, not anyone here today. The enemy is sitting up in Trenton."

School budgets will be voted on April 20.

Moorestown

The Moorestown Board of Education adopted a $65.3 million budget Wednesday night that raises the property tax levy by 1.8 percent despite an employee layoff but also restores programs originally proposed for elimination.

If approved by the voters, the budget would mean a $121 a year property tax increase on the average home assessed at $537,400, school officials said.

In response to input at four meetings with the community, the school board restored $700,000 in programs and reduced the number of planned layoffs from 60 to 52. The vote on the $65.3 million for 2010-11 was unanimous as the board approved spending that is $3 million less than this year but which would raise the tax levy $53 million because of the loss of millions of dollars in state aid.

Restored were the pre-first program, high school freshman sports, the Challenge program for gifted and talented students, the fall theater production and the textbook replacement program.

"The decision was made based, in part, on the overwhelming feedback the board of education has received from the Moorestown community," said board president Don Mishler.

He said the board actively solicited input and had promised to take the public's comments and opinions into consideration when drafting the final budget recommendation.

"Program restoration was not achieved by increasing taxes," Mishler told about 50 members of the audience in the media center of the William R. Allen Middle School on Stanwick Road.

Instead, he said the board eliminated salary increases for the next school year for all employees except for 19 principals and supervisors with ongoing labor contracts. He also said the board was able to reduce health costs because all district employees will be required by a new state law to contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries to medical benefits next year.

Of the dozens public speakers, some praised the board but others questioned the latest changes.

"I have a hard time believing the teachers will settle for a 0 percent increase," said Dave Maver before getting a board response that surplus or other possible savings could pay for raises.

Resident Judson Van Dervort thanked the board for taking a "bold initiative."

"I think you will have a great deal of public support," he said, referring to the upcoming budget election.

The district's state aid was reduced by $3.7 million, or 67 percent, for the school year that begins in September.

Collingswood

More than 100 residents attended the Collingswood School District budget hearing on Tuesday night at the middle school auditorium.

"We have been wrestling with the same tough decisions that some of our neighbors and some of the school districts in New Jersey are dealing with," superintendent Oswald told the crowd.

District officials have been working for the past three months to "minimize the damage" caused by the loss of $1.6 million in state aid, Oswald said.

The district's $29.7 million 2010-11 budget, which carries an overall increase of .18 percent over this year's budget, will result in a 2.5 percent tax hike if voters approve it in April. That means the average homeowner in Collingswood will pay about $75.94 more in school taxes.

In order to minimize the tax impact of the spending plan, the district had to cut or reduce programs and staff.

"We have to reduce somewhere and we're trying to reduce in areas that don't have a huge academic impact," Oswald said. "We're not in a position that we can provide everything that everybody wants anymore."

Among the full-time positions on the chopping block are six teachers, three counselors, two custodians, an instructional technology position, two central officer workers and a member of the child study team. The district will also eliminate a nurse, attendance officer and instrumental music teacher, all part-time.

"Some of these are retirements," Oswald added.

The district also plans to eliminate freshman sports and institute a $100 activity fee per student. The fee would be capped at $175 per family.

The preschool program will cost $1,500 a year for Collingswood residents and $2,500 a year for non-residents.

"We think that's a reasonable compromise when the other choice is to eliminate it altogether," Oswald said.

The morning sessions of the pre-kindergarten program will continue to be free, but parents will have to pay a $500 annual fee for the afternoon sessions. Students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch programs would pay $175 per year, or $20 a month.

Music lessons at the elementary schools will also cost $100 per student, with families capped at $175.

Haddon Township

After the announcement by superintendent Raivetz of a loss of about 40 staffers, a Haddon Township school board member voiced her discontent.

"I don't want to see any employee lose their job," school board vice president Bonnie Richards said. "That's what hurts me the most."

The district lost $1.5 million in state aid for 2010-11, or 17.5 percent of the district's proposed budget, Raivetz said.

In the 2009-10 school year, the district got $8.8 million from the state. In 2010-11, the district will only get $7.3 million, 7.7 percent less than this year.

Of the district's $30.5 million proposed budget, $20.7 million would be raised through taxes.

That's $887,674 more than this year's tax levy, even though the district plans to spend $1.6 million less in 2010-11.

The proposed budget carries a tax hike of 4 percent, the maximum the state allows.

That means homeowners will pay 10 cents more per $100 of assessed property value, or $129.76 for a home assessed at the township's average of $120,000.

Programs that may suffer cuts or end up on the chopping block are central office and district-wide programs, student support services, such as the Extended Day Program and some summer programs, as well as co-curricular and athletic programs.

The district would also defer the purchase of musical instruments and operations equipment and reduce pay to assistant coaches at the high school, eliminate varsity golf, reduce athletic supplies at the high school by $2,000 and reduce professional development for coaches.

Tuition for the pre-kindergarten program would go from $1,000 a year to $2,500.

"We have quality education and we will continue to have quality education," Raivetz told residents.

Although the board had not yet voted on whether to approve the plan by press time, board member William Mann said he could not support the plan.

"I have a difficult time supporting a max in property tax increase," Mann said. "Less services and increased taxes doesn't seem like the right model to me."

Cherry Hill

After the public hearing was moved to the Cherry Hill High School East auditorium to accommodate an anticipated crowd, the Cherry Hill school board on Wednesday approved a 2010-11 budget totaling $166,155,496.

Reflecting massive cuts in state aid, the proposed budget is more than $6 million less than the current budget and cuts 91 full-time positions, about half of them teachers.

Despite the looming cuts, only about 70 parents, students, other Cherry Hill residents, teachers and school aides turned out and were, for the most part, subdued for the adoption of the spending plan, which includes a 4 percent hike in the tax levy over the current budget to $149.8 million. With a tax rate of 9 cents per $100 in assessment, a homeowner whose property is assessed at the township average of $140,000 would pay $4,586 in school taxes, a raise of $122 over the current year.

Only about 10 of those in attendance spoke.

One resident, however, did speak out against the tax hike.

"There's a lot of anger from taxpayers," resident Steve Whitney said. "The last two years, my wages have been cut and I've had to tighten my belt. If you raise taxes, that's not tightening your belt. Everyone's spending money that they don't have. We have to stop."

The board said the tax hike -- the maximum under the state cap rule -- was necessary after the district lost 51 percent of its aid, or $8.5 million, in Gov. Chris Christie's budget cuts for the next fiscal year.

The budget restores high school sports that had been considered for elimination, including swimming, bowling and boys' lacrosse, but some sports will have shortened schedules. Stipends for assistant coaches and extracurricular activities are also being cut. Late buses were restored, as were the high school fall plays.

Class size maximums are increased at all levels, but the popular sixth-grade stay at Mount Misery got a last minute reprieve at Wednesday's meeting.

Interscholastic competition for middle school B teams, similar to junior varsity, is being eliminated in favor of intramural teams. Student activity fees will be implemented for sports and extracurricular activities in the middle and high schools.

Camden

The city's first ever Board of School Estimate decided swiftly Wednesday night to leave the city's $7.5 million tax levy unaltered, although persuasive public voices may have produced a broader realization for Camden's top elected leaders.

The unanimous vote keeping the city's 2 percent contribution to the city school's $337 million budget was no surprise, but by the end of the two-hour meeting, elected officials offered insight indicating that traditional lobbying efforts for Camden in Trenton would not be sufficient in a recession.

"We need to continue telling our story and what cuts like this mean for not just here, but for all urban centers across the state of New Jersey," Mayor Dana Redd said after urging all residents to talk to their state legislators.

The city's three most powerful elected leaders in the city -- Redd, City Council President Frank Moran and School Board President Sara Davis -- all sit on the Board of School Estimate and each shared disappointment in their difficult position Wednesday of having to approve a budget that cuts $23 million from schools due to a combination of state cuts and cost increases.

"We care about the teachers, but we have to be realistic about the economic times we're in," Moran said.

This $23 million cut represents layoffs of more than 300 jobs, the closing of two schools and a drastic reduction in services by the TV station, Boys and Girls Club and a local warehouse. The loss of staff includes 94 teachers, 14 vice principals, eight security guards and all school bus drivers and bus aides.

Perhaps most frightening to parents is the closure of the district's Solution Center, the Parent Center and all community school coordinators that act as the liaison between parents and schools, they said at the meeting.

Penny Carrissese, a parent with children at McGraw Elementary, said cutting the community school coordinators would severely hinder the district.

"It's not good. And if we want to at least try to make the Camden school system a better school system, we need to keep us parents involved," Carrissese said. "I know people who have said to me, we are not going to be involved if our (community school coordinators) are fired."

Several city teachers including Haqqiulah Bey from Parkside Elementary fired up the audience by condemning Gov. Christie's proposal Wednesday to provide additional state aid to school districts that freeze salaries.

"We will not be extorted and our children are not for sale," Bey said.

Davis shared the most concern, going so far as to characterize this budget as the worst she's seen in her 40 years in Camden education.

"A thorough and efficient education cannot happen on the kind of budget we have," Davis said. "We have to let the folks (in Trenton) know we do care."

The Board of Education has scheduled its own public hearing for 6 p.m. April 13 at Dudley Elementary School.

Washington Township

Emotions ran high during the Washington Township budget presentation to the board of education Wednesday night, with both the board president and superintendent of schools making impassioned speeches about the school employees and community, and pickets and cheers preceding the crowded meeting.

The budget was not approved by press time.

The Washington Township district recommended cutting teachers, staff and programs and raising taxes by 14 cents to reduce the budget by just more than $1 million. That would raise the taxes on an average $129,126 home in Washington Township by $179.65, said district business administrator Peg Meehan.

The district lost $6.4 million in state aid, and the proposed increase on taxpayers would bring in $6.1 million.

The cuts include 41 teaching positions, four administrators, four guidance counselors, nine food service employees, three special education employees and a substance abuse counselor. The administration also recommended cutting some neighborhood bus service, elementary and middle school intramurals, middle school field hockey and wrestling and freshman sports programs, as well as supplies, professional development and equipment.

Eighty percent of the budget is made of salaries and wages, Meehan said.

Meehan said the only thing that would save some programs and activities would be private donations and sponsorships.

The 11/12 auditorium at Washington Township High School was standing room only with teachers, secretarial employees and support staff filling all 750 seats.

The meeting had to be moved from the regular board room to the auditorium in anticipation of the crowd.

At times, the meeting took on the feel of a concert, with various unions leading cheers in different corners and jazz music playing during a board executive session. The session was called an hour into the meeting when support union representatives asked to add an additional clause to the agreed-upon concessions: That in the event the state comes through with additional aid as the result of the settlement of the budget, the district will reopen negotiations on support staff concessions.

Outside, prior to the meeting, the support staff picketed along Hurffville-Cross Keys Road, holding up signs that read "Save the Lunch Ladies -- Again" and "Proud Bus Driver."

"As the support staff, we're the ones getting hurt the most," said Peggy Wade, a bus driver. "We're the ones at the bottom."

The support staff union voted for "significant concessions," said Meehan, allowing for no increase in salary plus paying into health benefits, the loss of nine positions and the downgrade of six additional positions. Hourly workers agreed to a cut in pay.

The principals union and the supervisors union both agreed to a freeze in salaries.

Staff Writers Barbara Rothschild, Joseph Gidjunis and Shruti Mathur Desai contributed to this report.