P.O. Box 909 ● Trenton, NJ 08605-0909 ● Phone: 609.695.7600 ● Fax: 609.695.0413 ● Web: www.njsba.org/PI

The Impact of S-1701

Excerpts from a New Jersey School Boards Association Survey of Local School Districts

May 2005

Did S-1701 affect your school district’s 2005-06 budget in the area of academic programming?

• Freehold Borough: Yes.  Gifted and talented programs were cut, and art, music and physical education classes were consolidated.

• Edison: Yes. It caused the district to freeze the textbook and educational supply accounts to allow for necessary increases in energy, insurance, salary increases, private school for the handicapped tuition, transportation, etc.

• Eagleswood: Yes. Elimination of World Language program; reduction of technology tech from 5 to 3 days.

• Colts Neck: Yes.  Spanish at the elementary level was reduced.  Also other planned program enhancements could not be implemented.

• Haddon Township: Yes.   Reduced 5.5 teaching positions, resulting in larger class sizes and limitation in some programs.

• Pennsauken: Reduction of media staff.

• Cinnaminson: Yes.  Eliminated industrial arts program at Middle and High School.  Eliminated culinary arts program at the High School.  Eliminated 7 certified staff and 4 instructional aides.

• Hopewell Valley Regional: Yes.  Increase in class size, loss of electives in high school, elimination of summer school, reduction in music lessons, reduction in professional development…reductions in clubs and activities, no new programs offered or expanded.

Did S-1701 affect your school district’s 2005-06 budget in the area of instructional staff?

·         Sparta:  Yes. Three teaching positions and one administrative position had to be cut.

·         Medford Township: Yes. Unable to hire additional staff for the enhancement of Basic Skills and Enrichment Programs.  Also, prevented us from hiring a library/Media Specialist for our Sixth Grade.

·         Logan Township: Yes. 2 classroom staff positions deleted or not filled; speech services curtailed.

·         Hillsborough: Besides reductions in exiting teaching staff, we did not budget for needed teachers at our high school for growth in student population.

·         Colts Neck: Reduced teaching staff by 5-1/2 teachers.

·         North Plainfield: 6 full-time teaching positions were cut due to 3% cap.

·         Hopewell Valley Regional: 8.4 regular teachers reduced; 3 special education teachers reduced; 6 teacher assistants reduced.

·         Lakeland Regional: Yes. Reduction of our teachers.

·         Roxbury: Yes. Also prevented the hiring of additional instructional staff and also had to eliminate all media and grades K and 1 instructional aides.

·         Pitman: Eliminated 5 teaching positions.

·         Fairfield (Essex County): Yes.  We wanted to go to full-time Kindergarten, but could not due to S-1701 constraints.

·         Carlstadt: Yes. Combined 3 sections into 2 for Grade 4 in 2005-06.

Did S-1701 affect your school district’s 2005-06 budget in the area of extracurricular activities?

• Medford Township: Yes. Required the district to double athletic/activity fees.

• Hillsborough: Yes.  Law forced us to place additional coaches and sports needed (due to growth at high school) on a separate spending proposal.  This question was defeated and nothing was restored by the governing body.

• Colts Neck:  The board was unable to keep the same level of funding for some activities, thus shifting the financial burden onto parents.

• Galloway Township: Clubs and activities were reduced 50%.

• Long Hill Township: Yes.  We will also be charging a participation feel for our athletic programs.

• Lebanon Township: Yes. Five after-school clubs were eliminated from offerings made to students in prior years.

Did S-1701 affect your school district’s 2005-06 budget in the area of administration/ supervision?

·         Medford Township: Yes.  Due to district growth, we need to hire at a minimum 3 instructional supervisors.  We could only budget for one.

·         Colts Neck: Yes.  Eliminated one of the two existing Assistant Principal positions.

·         Wyckoff: Yes. Second vice principal prevented in 900+ student middle school.

·         Roxbury: Yes. We wanted to hire a Dean of Students for our high school for security purposes and [were] not able to do so.

·         Millstone Township: We could not budget for an additional middle school assistant principal due to the administrative cap.  We have two administrators for nearly 900 students.

·         Pequannock: Yes.  Loss of two K-12 supervisors.

Did S-1701 affect your school district’s 2005-06 budget in the area of hazardous-route transportation?

·         Cinnaminson: Cuts were made in instructional areas in order to retain hazardous-route busing.

·         Long Hill Township: To meet budget increase limitations, we were required to eliminate one bus route.

·         Hopewell Valley Regional: Four routes eliminated.

·         Roxbury: We cut other areas because we did not want…an accident due to a student crossing a hazardous route or walking along a road without sidewalks.

Did S-1701 affect your school district’s 2005-06 budget in the area of capital/maintenance?

·         Paramus: We were restricted from buying and selling our leased school buses, resulting in the district losing $100,000.

·         Closter:  A project was cancelled because we were required to return funds from capital reserve back to General Fund surplus.  An urgent roofing project will now be delayed for several years until we can get the voters to approve it as a special expense.

·         Demarest: We were unable to perform several repairs to facilities, such as roofing repairs and replacement.

·         Freehold Township: Facility budget took the brunt of S-1701.  Only critical/ emergency work will be done this year as t he facility budget will serve as contingency for other unforeseen operating cost.

During 2004-05, did the 3% surplus restriction cause difficulties in meeting unanticipated costs? 

·         Paramus: Our bond rating was lowered.

·         Wyckoff: Had to borrow funds in order to meet the unanticipated costs of installing bathrooms in trailers.

·         Haddon Township:  We were forced to severely limit spending starting in October (partly because of higher energy costs) in order to protect ourselves from other potential unplanned costs.

·         Hopewell Township (Cumberland County):  Because…unanticipated high costs for tuition and special education transportation exceeded the budget, there was insufficient surplus to appropriate… Consequently, other very important instructional accounts were cut.

·         Avon-by-the Sea: School did not have enough surplus to pay for unanticipated special education students who moved into town.

For 2005-06, did the district reduce its surplus account to 2% to comply with S-1701’s surplus limit? 

·         Union Beach: Yes. This reduction will now require us to make up these funds next budget or raise taxes by 19.5¢ without any growth in the budget.

·         Haddon Heights: Yes.  Next year…we will have a revenue shortfall even before we [develop] the budget.  This will mean a large increase to local taxpayers.

·         Stillwater: Yes.  …we will have a minimum tax increase of 6.22¢ before we even start budgeting.

·         Lumberton Township: Yes. …will need to raise taxes 18¢ just to make up the surplus it will not have.

·         Hanover Park Regional:  Yes.  This and the [previously required] reduction to 3% will cause an upward spike in the district’s historically low tax rate.

·         Springfield:  Yes. When we begin to prepare the 2006-07 budget—before any salary, insurance, contractual increases are figured—$500,000 will have to be made up.

·         Old Bridge: Yes.  …the net savings per $100 of assessed valuation is approximately 1¢.

Source:       New Jersey School Boards Association
                  Public Information Department
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                  Trenton, New Jersey  08605-0909
                  Telephone: (609) 278-5202
                  Web site: www.njsba.org