School district faced with tight budget

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
A draft school budget cuts spending in the next fiscal year, as officials grapple with rising health benefits and possibly less state aid.
Numbers provided Monday put the budget at $111.8 million and a tax hike of approximately 3 percent.
School spending, which has grown every year, would decrease by nearly $500,000, compared to the $112.3 million spending plan that the district adopted in 2009.
As a percentage, overall school spending has grown by roughly 6 percent in each of the past two years.
In remarks Monday at the Board of Education meeting, Superintendent of Schools Brian G. Osborne pointed to health benefits growing by $2.5 million. School board member Richard Laine termed it a “huge increase.”
Business administrator Karla Milanette said Monday that the district is required to have a balanced budget.
As a result, there likely will be cuts to programs, such as reducing the hours of all-day prekindergarten. Among other steps, the district also will look to cut spending by 10 percent on textbooks, materials and supplies.
“I am not a miracle worker,” Osborne said.
Last week, Osborne suspended all non-essential spending in hiring, travel, supplies and conferences. As of Monday, the district turned back more than $100,000 worth of purchase orders.
He said, however, that sports would continue. State aid also remains a question mark.
On Feb. 11, Gov. Chris Christie announced that he had signed an executive order freezing state spending to close a budget hole. Among other steps, he announced that $475 million in state aid was going to be cut from more than 500 school districts for the current fiscal year that ends in June.

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