BOE makes cuts to defeated school budget
Fewer crisis counselors; fee to be charged for hazardous-route busing
BY TOM CAIAZZA
Staff Writer

EDISON - The Board of Education re-adopted the 2007-08 school budget on June 6 with the $1.7 million in cuts the Township Council ordered last month.

Many of the cuts were to programs that were not mandated by the state, board President David Dickinson said. While none of the services have been totally eliminated, some have been scaled back or will come with a fee attached.

The board opted to ignore most of the suggestions the council offered to satisfy the cut, choosing to keep funds to replace 40-year-old boilers in some of the district's older schools and offsetting that by not replacing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system at Lindeneau School, a cost savings of $500,000.

The Township Council ordered the $1.7 million cut from the school budget after it was voted down by approximately 100 votes in the April school board elections. The council suggested that cuts to services be kept to a minimum and that most of the cuts come from the district's capital outlay budget. The district was not inclined to do that.

Instead, the board will increase the revenue for hazardous busing, which was a free service for students who live within walking distance of a school but have to traverse somewhat unsafe road conditions, by charging a fee of $200 per student per year. The idea created a great deal of concern from parents who were concerned that some people would not be able to afford the cost of the busing and would be forced to have their children walk the unsafe routes.

Dickinson said that while it is regrettable if some parents cannot pay for the busing, it is the parents' responsibility to get their children to school safely, not the board's.

"We can't afford the free stuff anymore," Dickinson said. "It's your responsibility as a parent to make sure your kids are safe."

The number of crisis counselors in the district was cut by 1.5 positions, down to one per high school. Many students and parents said that cutting those counselors was a detriment to students who needed guidance that teachers and other staff could not provide. The original plan called for the cutting of all counselors in the district, but that idea was scrapped early in the proceedings in favor of the compromise.

The board voted to increase revenue in some areas, such as their investment income, netting a $250,000 gain, but also in the contentious building-use fees category.

Dickinson said that many of the community groups that use the school facilities are turning a profit but are not contributing to the schools' revenue. Under the new budget, the board would institute use fees for many of the groups that use school facilities - most notably, the township recreation department.

The recreation department runs the town's after-school and before-school care programs, and the new use fees would require them to charge more for the program.

Denise Halliwell, director of the township recreation department, said the district and the township offer reciprocating services, and a charge to the township by the district amounts to money coming from one pocket to another.

She said that the program will be forced to raise their enrollment costs to cover the cost of the building fees and it could result in a drop in enrollment.

"We are not - not - in the profit-making business," she said.

The district is expecting an added revenue of $450,000 from the user fees, but under current calculations, the after-school care programs alone would contribute more than $700,000 to the district, according to Halliwell.

"Will you stop at $450,000 or will you ask for the full $715,000?" she asked.

Dickinson replied that they would figure out a way to make it $450,000.

Some at the meeting feared the move may create a rift between the township and the school board, which often reciprocate services.

Council President Charles Tomaro said he was upset that the Board of Education would make this decision without consulting the township. He mentioned that the township offers garbage services for the district at no cost, which is a pay service for many in the township.

Tomaro also said that he saw this decision as moving away from the state's goal of shared services.

"They are going away from what Governor Corzine has asked them to do," Tomaro said.

The before- and after-school care programs are not the profit-making machines that Dickinson said they were, Tomaro said. They are self-sustaining programs that benefit the district's students.

"We're running the program for them and providing a service for the students that go to their schools," Tomaro said, "at a cost that is less than a day care."

The rest of the required cut will come through attrition due to the salary difference between resigning or retiring teachers and their younger, less-costly replacements. The district was also able to lower their telephone expenses by $60,000.

The vote was not unanimous. Board members William Van Pelt and Deborah Anes voted against the re-adoption, but for different reasons.

Van Pelt said he believes that the second straight defeat of the budget should have been a sign that the public wants lasting change, not stopgap solutions on a year-to-year basis.

"I think we have a responsibility as we're making cuts here; we should be looking at the possibility that the cuts should be on a permanent basis," Van Pelt said. "Maybe what we have to do is make some of the hard decisions now."

Anes said that any cut to the crisis counselors was a detriment to the students, something the board had said they were not willing to do.

The budget was re-adopted and will be sent to the county so the tax rate can be struck. The budget questions are far from over, however, because the board reserves the right to re-examine some or all of the cuts they have made and can reinstate them as long as the funds are available from another line item.

Dickinson said that the board will re-examine the cuts to the crisis counselors during the next Board of Education meeting, to be held Thursday night.