Schools

LIVE UPDATES: School Board To Detail Budget

Budget, revised from earlier version, to be defined tonight at BOE meeting

UPDATE 10:28 p.m.: Meeting closed.

UPDATE 10:22 p.m.: Board President Deidre Kukucka said the closure of West Belmar School may be re-considered, should the budget fail at the polls and should the Township Committee recommend deep cuts.

UPDATE 10:11 p.m.: Four challengers for seats on the school board have spoken, challenging the board on particular items but generally giving overall support for passing the budget in April.

Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

UPDATE 9:46 p.m.: Public comment continuing, with several speaking in favor of passing the budget. Tom Coyle, of Rosewood Drive, pointed out that incumbent candidate for school board is absent from tonight's meeting. Board members said she was out of the country celebrating her anniversary.  

UPDATE 9:29 p.m.: Public Comment is beginning now.

Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"It's obvious to me that you're picking on the lower-end people,'' resident Fred Metzger said.  "You're asking the custodians to take a 5 percent pay cut. Why are you picking on them? I think its wrong.''

UPDATE 9:24 p.m.: Budget presentation finished. The board is now taking their seats again. 

UPDATE: 9:22 p.m.: Each school principal will be tailoring a budget presentation to their own schools, Sandra Brower, assistant superintendent says. It's a departure from the district's normal procedure of having the same presentation several times in different locations, Brower says.

UPDATE: 9:20 p.m.: Smyth says the spending plan proposes to raise the tax rate by 5-cents for each $100 of property value. With the second question, the budget would increase by another $324,830 keep all the custodians. That would raise the tax rate by another .004 cents for each $100 of property value.

UPDATE: 9:09 p.m.: Smyth says the proposed budget is supported by a tax levy of $56,829,239, up from $55,717,349 last year, a difference of $1,111,890.

UPDATE: 9:02 p.m.: Smyth says there is a $1,803, 900 roofing project at the elementary schools and the high school as well as $200,000 for high school gym floor replacement.

The roofing project is shared with money from the state, which kicks in 40 percent, he says.

UPDATE: 8:47 p.m.: Business Administrator Brian Smyth says total operating budget for 2011-12 is: $61.039,000, up $1,353,500 from last year's spending plan.

UPDATE: 8: 38 p.m.: Wall Teacher's Union, in an email statement: "We have been in discussion with the board to prevent privatization of custodial positions. We have a tentative deal pending ratification by general membership that will prevent outsourcing. "

That vote is scheduled for Thursday, according to the statement.

UPDATE: 8:35 p.m.: Habel says the teacher's union as agreed to "health benefit givebacks'' and elimination of six custodial positions, a five percent reduction in salary for custodians and some other concessions, with the caveat that a second question be put on the April 27 ballot to retain the lost positions.

"I think what the (teachers union) has done is commendable,'' he says.

UPDATE: 8:28 p.m.:  Budget will eliminate two administrators, Habel says. He does not say which positions.

Budget will expand the solar energy program to expand energy savings, he says. 

Budget maintains all current staff and professional programs, including keeping West Belmar School open, he says.

UPDATE 8:20 p.m.:  Habel, going through a history of the budget process, says the outsourcing of custodial services was considered by the board.

"We wanted to make sure we would maintain the same standards we currently have," he says. 

Said the district could save, at minimum, $900,000.

Then, he details the so-called "West Belmar Option,'' which has since been shelved.

UPDATE 8:12 p.m. Habel details the district's troubles: nine of 10 budgets have failed; state aid cuts of $3 million, Township Committee cut an additional $765,000.

This budget, Habel says, is less than 2008-09 budget.

Habel details cuts to school district, including plethora of programs lost.

Habel says three employee unions still have no contract. The last three budgets have not had capital projects included, like the High School's roof, he says. Town has also had a $40 million loss in rateables and the district is bound by the state-mandated 2 percent cap.

UPDATE 8:05: Meeting is called to order.  

Superintendent James Habel to lead the presentation.

UPDATE 7:45 p.m.: People are beginning to funnel into the Wall Intermediate School, where the board is beginning to assemble for the budget presentation, held in the auditorium.

6:00 p.m.: The Board of Education is scheduled to meet tonight to detail its 2011-12 budget, which has changed somewhat from the $60 million spending plan it introduced earlier this month.

The presentation is slated for 8 p.m. at the Intermediate School, 2801 Allaire Road.

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But according to documents dated March 29 at 3:30 p.m. that were posted to the district's web site, the budget to be detailed tonight totals $61,039,000.

The tax levy of the tentative budget introduced earlier was $56,750,239. The budget to be presented tonight is $56,829,239, according to the document.

The document posted to the district web site does not mention the tax rate.  It is unknown at 6 p.m. whether that has changed from the tentative budget.

Under the tentative budget, the tax rate was $1.557 for each $100 of home value, up 4.9 cents from last year’s rate of $1.508, an increase of 3.25 percent.

On a property valued at $318,223 – the township average, according to the state Department of Community Affairs -- the school tax bill under the tentative plan would be $4,954.73, an increase of $155.93 over last year’s $4,798.80 bill.


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