All...we represent a pretty wide range of school districts in NJ. I am interested in understanding the real impact of looming school budget cuts and would appreciate it if you could post what you know about your town. What will be most interesting to understand is what happens in the towns where the budget was voted down and the town council will now be involved.

In Randolph, our budget passed with about a 6% tax increase. Even with that increase, we are losing approximately 25 headcount, some electives and will lose Kindergarten aides. (had the budget failed, we would have lost more headcount and possibly other services like busing or some level of sports). The passed budget includes an assumption that the teachers will accept a wage freeze for the coming school year. If they do not, then more will be cut.

As your councils and BOE finalize a plan, please post it here.

Thanks

Ours failed, and it had 48 layoffs, (all teachers that had no tenor, a guidance counselor and/or an assistant principal and others).
It elimanated all Middle school and freshmen sports,In middle school ALL after-school activities including Student Council, Art Club, Red Cross Club, jazz band, select band, select chorus, intramurals, the school play, the yearbook, the 8th grade dance, Stokes, Washington D.C., etc. Thats what I remeber, I am sure there was more.

how some money is spent....it for the kids ya know

http://blog.savejersey.com/2009/04/30/your...ns.aspx?ref=rss

how????? someone is making too much



no layoffs of the upper tier? just the ones that actually work.

Dave - i forget the exact reason but the schools are losing a good chunk of the federal aid they would normally get. That is why the tax rates are going up (to cover that lost money) even though the overall budget may have been cut.

things aren't run correctly in the state and local levels, including schools. jfar said taxes increase of 6%, so in 2007 the average tax in rand. was about $9761. A 6% increase would be about $585. approx 8679 households would bring in an extra $ 5,077,215 (if my math is correct and of course numbers are accurate) i think 5 mil should be enough to properly keep some teachers and programs on board, no? there is huge waste on all levels in the state and communities need to find out how exactly the money is spent, kids or fluff and flat screens.

I know i think a good independent audit would pay for itself 100x over LOL.

ohhh im sure that wouldn't go over well, but i'd bet on your side, it would pay for itself

fbi raids sup of schools in tom riv.....check out the pics of his house!....all about the kids!!

below is his pay....1/4 mil!!!!!

Fund* Name Employer Salary Tot. Salary* Years/ Months
service time
01 RITACCO, MICHAEL, TOMS RIVER SCHOOL DIST $226,500 $226,500 38/9
01 RITACCO, MICHAEL, J TOMS RIVER SCHOOL DIST $51,664 $51,664 11/9



http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/i...s_focus_of.html

my district has 4 assist priniples for each grade!!!! i'm sure they can make do with one, maybe 2, but one for each grade, c'mon. this is why people are fed up!!

Administrative Staff

Dr. James C. Riccobono $159,970
Principal

Mr. James Argondizzo
Grade 11 Assistant Principal $128,112

Dr. Mark Morrell
Grade 12 Assistant Principal $130,884

Mr. Roy Dragon
Grade 09 Assistant Principal $134,606

Mr. Michael Godown
Grade 10 Assistant Principle $89,860 (prob incorrect as it was from diff district)

Well..there are many factors, but there are two main components to the problem.

First, the state has rescinded a good chunk of aid from most school districts in the state. In Randolphs case we lost $3.7M. No phase out, just lost it off of a $70m budget.

Second. There is a state law that caps budget increase to 4% over the previous year. In our case, the budget has been cut some much for years that 85% is now headcount salary and benefits. The negotiated increase for that exceeds the 4%, so we started the budget season with a forced headcount reduction of 25.

My personal opinion is that the union really is the largest part of the problem. Tenure protects several very highly paid folks with no real position. With a few less of them we would have several more younger teachers. The union has also been very successful in negotiating very favorable terms for years. Not many folks are in a position today where they don't contribute to benefits or where they are guaranteed raises every year.

For sure the state is to blame too. Too many mandates where they do not provide funding. In fact, I would say that our school economic problem is just about as complex to solve as the MLB problem in the other thread. I do whole heartedly believe that every town should be responsible for determining how much to support a school system and what they want for their kids. I don't think we should get money from teh state or feds unless its to pay for mandated items.

I didn't really start this thread to debate the merits, though I suppose it is inevitable. What I really am interested in is finding how many towns that voted no actually do wind up slashing important programs that ultimately wind up needing to be replaced at much higher cost to the user. For example, if middle school sports are eliminated, do the kids wind up playing for the town rec league at the same cost? higher cost? If busing is cut, do parents need to pay for private transportation? at what cost?

There are long term losses related to some cuts. If you cut freshman sports, after a few years there will be an impact to the Varsity team. Once the team ges weaker, interest will wane and less kids will play. How many of those kids will wind up in trouble? These answers won't be known for 5 or 7 years. But I want to see the short term impacts too.

4 assistant vice prin. in one high school in my district. cut 3 of those positions and you can hire 7 teachers at 60 g's per year... or 14 at 30!!! that would help the kids....no?

In West Milford, the school budget was also defeated last year. The result? -- the town council retained an outside school auditor for $100K which found an additional $600K to cut. So the net/net was a $500K marginal reduction out of a $67M school budget. I suspect a similar marginal reduction by the council this year as well, despite an overwhelming defeat of the budget here -- 62% to 38%. What's really needed is zero based budgeting and an examination of the entire system, not just a nominal cut of a budget which has already baked in fluff in anticipation of expected cuts. However, that's not likely as some of the sacred cows would lose their sacred rear ends.

from the sup...first since election


Dear Key Communicators:



The official results of the budget vote have been sent to us and the results were a bit closer than the unofficial results shared last week with you.

Bridgewater : YES - 4229 NO - 4261 (32)

Raritan : YES - 460 NO - 570 (110)

Total: YES - 4689 NO - 4831 (142)



I’d like to thank the community for voting and thank those who helped get out the vote and inform the public, especially the campaigns of the BREA Kids First program, the Council of Schools, each building PTO, district administrators, and many individuals who took it upon themselves to get their friends and neighbors to the polls . A 30% voter turnout was the largest in many years and can only bode well for the future of public education. Yes, the budget was defeated, and of course, many of us are disappointed. But we are hopeful that through continued dialog, a reasonable budget can be presented to the community within the next 3 weeks.



I’d also like to again thank you all for the valuable dialog leading up to the vote on April 20. While there may still be some unanswered questions and even misinformation out there about the budget, the educational discussions have helped to clarify many issues for the public.



My position on future cuts is that no further reductions should be applied to the 2010-2011 School Budget. The reasoning for this is simple. The loss of 63 teachers, 24 support staff, 5 administrators, and the outsourcing of 84 custodians is deep enough. The budget is decreasing by 2.88%. Further reductions will only serve to undermine the educational foundation of the district. It is my hope that all parties can look at this budget objectively, putting ideologies, politics, personal agendas, and emotions aside. I ask everyone to focus on the simple question, “Will more cuts hurt kids, and if so, how can they be avoided or at least minimized?”



The process for handling a defeated budget must be completed by May 19. There are several upcoming Town Council and Board of Education meetings where the 2010-2011 School Budget may be discussed:

· Thursday, April 29, 7:30 PM – Bridgewater Town Council @ Bridgewater Municipal Bldg.

· Monday, May 3, 7:30 PM – Bridgewater Town Council @ Bridgewater Municipal Bldg.

· Tuesday, May 11, 6:30 PM – Raritan Borough Council @ Raritan Borough Hall

· Tuesday, May 11, 8:00 PM – BRRSD Board of Education @ Wade Bldg.

· Thursday, May 13, 7:30 PM - Bridgewater Town Council @ Bridgewater Municipal Bldg.

· Monday, May 17, 7:30 PM - Bridgewater Town Council @ Bridgewater Municipal Bldg.



Thank you for your continued support.

When you start cutting scholarship programs, then it really is hurting the students.

He wants to completely get rid of the STARS scholarship program and the Bloustein scholars. Bad moves sir.
Also would hurt the state in the long run if there are no longer any incentives to stay in NJ for their higher education.

Also wants to get rid of bathrooms at highway Rest Stops lol.

Robbs, there is talk (more like making plans on) Closing Paradise Knolls school and possible one other and combine all they kids in the other schools. My Friends went to the BOE meeting the other night on it.

The Paradise Knolls school should have been closed long ago. The fact is that the student population in West Milford has been declining for some time. I was surprised it wasn't closed as part of the first budget round. Despite the cuts in state aid and the economic crisis, it was amazing to most voters here that the first budget proposed was actually higher than last year's budget. The BOE's position was basically "what's the problem?, just raise taxes again to pay for all this". The end result was not only a resounding defeat of the budget, but the 3 candidates elected to the BOE were the only 3 who were against the initial budget and wanted additional cuts.