Lawmakers to weigh moving school elections to November

By TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer
(Published: May 9, 2006)

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - April school elections would be moved to November, but New Jersey voters would lose their say on school budgets under long-discussed legislation that has finally received serious interest from lawmakers and the governor.

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr., D-Camden, is expected to announce support for school election changes on Wednesday, and a Senate committee is slated to consider them on Thursday. Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Tuesday expressed interest in moving school elections to November.

"Given the consistently low turnout in school elections, we need to be looking at ways to encourage voter participation, and this idea is worthy of consideration and debate," Corzine spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said.

The movement comes after a mere 15.7 percent of registered voters cast ballots in last month's school elections. Voters approved 53 percent of local school budgets, the lowest approval rate since 1994.

Roberts will announce his plan as part of a proposal to promote shared services and regionalization by municipalities and school districts, spokesman Joe Donnelly said.

"He supports changing New Jersey's system of school elections due to the state's low participation rates and expense of holding separate elections," Donnelly said. "He also is open to eliminating school budget votes, except in cases where a school district seeks to exceed spending caps."

Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, said this year's school elections prompted her to finally schedule a hearing on a proposal that has been floating around for years.

"We need to provide a greater opportunity to participate in the process," said Turner, who said she also wouldn't oppose moving school elections to the June primary election.

School budgets generally constitute most local government spending, which is funded via property taxes. They're also the only major spending plans subject to direct approval by voters. State, county and municipal budgets don't get voter consideration.

Turner said her bill would subject school budgets to voter approval only if the proposed spending plans exceed state mandated caps that limit school spending increases to 2.5 percent or the inflation rate, whichever is greater.

Eliminating voter approval of budgets should mollify school officials who oppose moving the April elections to November, Turner said.

But Frank Belluscio of the New Jersey School Boards Association said that while the association supports eliminating votes on school budgets that fall within state spending caps, it opposes moving the April election because it would mix school votes with partisan elections.

Assemblyman Guy Gregg, R-Morris, said he supports moving school elections, but decried taking away votes on school budgets. He said voters sent a message this year about their dissatisfaction with property taxes, New Jersey's cost of living and the lack of action to address those concerns.

"This was their way to reach out and stab at us," Gregg said. "We should take it that way. The idea of taking the vote away is something the public will not be pleased about."

Bill Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities, said municipalities, which collect property taxes for school districts and modify defeated school budgets, need more information on whether school spending caps would be ironclad before they support taking away the taxpayer vote.

Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, will see what comes from Thursday's hearing before deciding whether to schedule a full Senate vote on a school election bill, according to his spokeswoman, Jennifer Sciortino.

The activity on school elections came as an Assembly budget panel on Tuesday castigated state Education Department officials over administrative salaries and perks, particularly in the state's poorest school districts.

A Special Problem

Local school districts are finding it difficult to fund special services schools for disabled and medically fragile students.

By DIANE D'AMICO Education Writer, (609) 272-7241

Published: Monday, May 8, 2006

Updated: Monday, May 8, 2006

Complex motorized wheelchairs, tricycles and walkers line the extra-wide hallway.

Rooms have heated floors, large bathrooms, changing rooms and even washing machines.

Five nurses juggle a daily stream of medications, feeding tubes and respirators.

But this is not a medical facility. It's a school.

The Atlantic County Special Services School in Mays Landing treats more than 500 of the most disabled and medically fragile children in the county. Like all children, they are entitled to a free public education.

How much it costs to provide that education — and what is provided — is one of the most sensitive issues in school funding reform.

No one would deny these children the services they need, but the cost can be staggering. Annual tuition at the state's eight public special services schools ranges from $30,000 to $50,000. If the child needs a personal aide, that's at least another $15,000. Transportation on a specialized bus adds another $18,000. All of this is paid by the school district in the town where the child lives.

Medical insurance may cover some of a child's health needs, but services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy and personal aides, some of whom are licensed practical nurses, are the responsibility of the local school district.

Faced with annual costs of as much as $60,000 or more per child at a special services school and flat state aid, local school districts are looking for ways to keep at least some of the children within their own schools. The law requires that the children be educated in the “least restrictive environment” and the state has actively promoted including special education children in their hometown schools to save some transportation and tuition costs. Enrollment at the Atlantic County Special Services School is expected to drop by about 40 students next year.

“These are tough times for everyone,” Atlantic County Special Services School District Administrator Barbara Morvay said. “When local districts have financial problems they have to do something, so they pull the students out.”

Those who remain are typically those who require the most services. The average tuition for a child at the Mays Landing school this year is almost $36,000.

The end result is a no-win situation: Districts try to keep more children local to save money, but then must pay higher tuition for the students who remain at the special services school because enrollment has dropped.



Paying the bills



When the Atlantic County Board of Freeholders voted in 1988 to form a special services school district, it was hailed as an effective way to consolidate services, save money and help children. It provided a local school for students with disabilities, many of whom had been sent out of the county to more costly private schools. Under a law passed in the 1970s, the state paid two-thirds of the cost and the county government and local school district split the rest.

But the funding formula changed, and the special services schools in the state are now treated more like private schools for the handicapped. Local school districts pay the bulk of the costs through tuition.

Atlantic County Executive Dennis Levinson recently sent a letter to Gov. Jon S. Corzine asking the state to consider returning to the old funding model. Levinson, a former history teacher, noted that the state now gives no operating aid directly to the Special Services School.

“The Legislature took credit for this when the law passed, then they made it disappear,” Levinson said, asking why local taxpayers should now have to pay the difference.

County governments contribute varying amounts. Atlantic County government gives $2 million per year, or about 10 percent of its school's $19 million operating budget, which is about the average statewide. Cape May County's freeholders contribute 28 percent, or $3.4 million, of the $12.1 million budget of their special services school.

Cape May County Administrator Stephen O'Connor said the county recognizes that its contribution helps minimize the impact on local school taxes. Because of its large ratable base, Cape May County still has the lowest county property tax rate in the state at 17 cents per $100, and it can afford to be more generous.

Atlantic County's tax rate is 29 cents, and was cut four cents this year. Local school officials suggested using one cent of the cut, about $4 million, to increase funding to the special services and vocational schools, which would have helped local school districts keep their taxes down by reducing the special services school tuition. Levinson said he thought the $2 million contribution was sufficient.

“You can't just expect the counties to fill the gap,” he said. “The state made a commitment to fund the school.”

The state, which faces a projected $4.5 million budget shortfall this year, contributes almost $1 billion in state aid to local school districts for special education costs. But that amount has not increased since 2002-03, while the number of students eligible for services and the cost of providing them have gone up.

The responsiblity for paying the increases has fallen to local school districts and local taxpayers.

Nowhere is the impact more noticeable than in Corbin City. The small Atlantic County town does not have a school but sends its children to Upper Township and Ocean City High School. A full third of the 108 children in the town have been identified as needing special education services; most receive them in the public school. Two children attend the Atlantic County Special Services School, and three attend the Cape May Special Services School, one of them part-time. In 2003, a 12-cent property tax hike was attributed directly to the the tuition and expenses of just one special education student.

The Garden State Coalition of Schools, which represents suburban school districts statewide, estimated that more than 60 percent of property tax increases in the last five years have been because of health benefits and special education costs.



Finding funding

State Sens. Bill Gormley, R-Atlantic, and Stephen Sweeney, D-Salem, Cumberland, Gloucester, who sit on the state Senate Budget Committee, want to find creative ways to provide the services within the state's tight budget.

“The formulas for funding special education have never been right, and they've never been fully funded,” Gormley said. “We have to look at ways we can do this differently and creatively.”

Mullica Township schools Superintendent David Dunlevy said it would help enormously if the state would just subsidize transportation costs, which could easily run $100 per day.

Sweeney, who has a daughter with Down syndrome, said the special services schools are needed and the state must find ways to run them efficiently. He cited Gloucester County, which has saved $1.1 million a year by combining the administration of its special services and vocational schools, as one example of saving money without sacrificing services.

“It's about having choices,” he said. “The national trend is toward inclusion, but can every child really get the services they need in the regular public school? Costs are higher in special services schools, but look at the services being provided.”

Sweeney said his daughter currently attends a regular public school, but she will likely attend the special services high school, which offers a more comprehensive program to help her make the transition to a life after school.



Staying local

Local school districts have successfully begun programs to keep disabled children in their hometown schools. New Jersey has a high rate of outside placements, a trend the state Department of Education would like to reverse.

“We are not doing as much inclusion as we should,” state Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gantwerk said. “If it's done well, everyone benefits.”

Local school officials say their programs allow the children to stay closer to home and spend time with regular students. Somers Point renovated the old New York Avenue School so it could expand the preschool handicapped program and keep more children in the district's schools.

“If the child starts preschool here, the parents are more likely to want to keep them here,” Superintendent Gerald Toscano said. “There is a huge benefit in terms of socialization. We have one student who participates on the track team.”

The local program has saved money for the district, cutting outside tuition costs from $600,000 to $200,000 in three years.

“But it's an individual decision,” Toscano said. “We're not going to say to a parent we want to save money, so we're going to move your child back here.”



In-district success

Atlantic City has brought 30 students back into the district and started a specialized program for autistic children. Autism is the fastest-growing special education classification, rising statewide from 4,624 children in 2002 to almost 7,400 in 2005. Corzine has included $15 million in the 2007 budget to fund start-up costs for in-district programs for autistic children.

Giavanni Marin said his son, Christopher, 7, has done well in the new program, and it is much more convenient.

“They said it would be the same program,” he said. “It was a little rough at the beginning until they found the right teacher. But he is talking now, and has made a lot of progress. It's much easier for us to stay in touch here.”

Nancylee Bostic, who runs the Atlantic City program, came from the Special Services School. She said she would not have agreed to the job unless she had the district's commitment that all required services would be provided.

“This isn't just a class,” she said, “it's a program.”

Absecon Superintendent James Giaquinto said that a decade ago, the 10 students in the middle-school special-education program would have been sent to the Special Services School, but increased training for teachers and a better understanding of the students' needs made it possible for the district to accommodate them in-house.

“They take art and music and physical education with the other students,” he said. “A few can take some academic courses.”

School officials said the most successful programs are in the elementary schools. The schools are smaller and the disabilities are not always as pronounced. Once the students hit middle school and high school, it can get harder for them to adapt to the bigger schools, and the students have less in common with other teenagers.

The Atlantic County Special Services high school program trains students for jobs in casinos, hospitals, nursing homes and area colleges. Students do groundskeeping and work in a cafe at the school that is open to the public. Cape May County's special services students have worked on Habitat for Humanity homes.



A new model

Barbara Makoski, superintendent of the Cape May County Special Services District, said the future will likely require special services schools to branch out, offering some of their services to the local school districts by having teachers or specialists travel to district schools or sending children to a centralized program at a local school. She came from Warren County, which has a special services district but no actual school. Programs are located within the county's public schools.

“We know the costs are an extreme burden on the school districts,” Makoski said. “There is no doubt that special
education is not funded adequately at the federal or state level. But we have to make sure the children are not shoved aside.”

Special services officials say that as more medically fragile and premature infants survive, often with physical or developmental disabilities, the demands on the education
system to serve them will become even greater. Inclusion will never work for every
child.

“These are the toughest children for districts to deal with on a day-to-day basis,” Makoski said. “You also have to consider the impact on the other students if a student has severe behavioral or medical issues.”

The DYNAMITE program at the Atlantic County school perhaps sums it up best. The name stands for Disabled Youth Needing Attention: Medically, Individually, Therapeutically and Educationally.

“It's a long name, but it's what we do,” Morvay said.



To e-mail Diane D'Amico at The Press:

DDamico@pressofac.com