District to hold series of budget presentations BY JAY BODAS Correspondent METUCHEN - The new year will bring with it a new round of school budget discussions and a raise for the borough Board of Education (BOE) business administrator. "Every year, we start our discussion of the budget with a presentation based on data for you," said schools Superintendent Theresa Sinatra at the Jan. 8 BOE meeting. "The baseline data really is the kind of informational packet that I believe you can use throughout the budget process. It gives you a profile of each school and gives you a little bit of an overview." "We give you profiles of the special services department and a chart on student population since 1991," Sinatra said. "Every time we start talking about budgets, we talk about cost escalation and special education, and we get into discussions about this area of our budget. We also include numbers of different staff members in the district and their backgrounds. It is really a reference tool for you as we go through the process, if you want to take a look at numbers." The Metuchen school budget for 2007- 08 was $28.4 million, and of that, the total for special education services was between $5 million and $6 million, said Business Administrator and board Secretary Michael Harvier after the meeting. At the meeting, board member Devra Golbe noted that there had been a "growth in the school population" in the past several years. According to the data presented at the meeting, current total enrollment in the school district has reached 2,025 students, an all-time high. Golbe asked if the growth was expected to continue in the future. Sinatra said that it probably would, but that a "new demographic study" was needed in order to be certain." "Our demographic study is old now," Sinatra said. "I will be in a better position to answer that with a new study, but based on this chart and what I see in the schools, we will probably continue to have a small growth pattern." After the board meeting, Harvier gave a quick overview of the budget discussion process. "Going forward this year, at each meeting a different topic on the budget will be reviewed, as special meetings will be held on issues such as special education and transportation," Harvier said. "All of the school principals will come in and submit their budgets. Budgets for custodial maintenance and technology will also be presented. Historically, the budget is then voted on in mid-April." The board also agreed to raise Harvier's annual salary from $95,000 to $105,000 and will take formal action on his contract at the next business meeting. "Prior to this increase, Harvier was one of the lowest-paid business administrators, and this will move him up into the bottom third," said board president George Trapp. "We believe this was an appropriate increase for the work that he has done." Board members Terry Kohl and Devra Golbe agreed. "His responsibilities have been substantially increased," Kohl said. "He has been invaluable. Our audits have been clean for the last number of years, which in and of itself is extremely important to a school district such as Metuchen. Though it may sound like a rather substantial increase, which in fact it is, he is deserving of taking his place among his peers for being compensated." "He treats every single dollar that goes into the district as if it came out of his own personal pocket," added Golbe. On Sinatra's recommendation, the board also agreed to close schools for students on Feb. 5, Primary Election Day, due to security concerns, but will leave them open for teachers as an in-service training day. Sinatra said that she would send a letter to parents informing them of the change.