School tax will be stable

South River spending plan includes improvements, new staff

By jennifer micale

U

nlike the 15-cent increase in the proposed municipal budget, South River’s school tax rate should remain the same.

Tomorrow, the Board of Education will hold a public hearing on its budget for the 2000-2001 school year. Approved by the Middlesex County superintendent of schools, the $18,727,448 budget will keep the tax rate steady at $2.53 per $100 of assessed real estate. This amounts to an annual school tax bill of $1,948.10 for the owner of a $77,000 home.

While the tax rate remains stable, the district will be hiring some new staff members to accommodate school growth. Among them will be an additional second-grade teacher, made necessary by a larger second-grade class, explained board Vice President Greg Palaski.

An elementary school resource room teacher will also be added, as well as a middle school guidance counselor. Additionally, the district will hire an eighth-grade Spanish teacher for its world languages program, as mandated by the state, Palaski said.

In this year’s budget, the district has also included some improvement projects. These include repaving the parking lot at Denny Stadium, renovating the high school library and installing new kitchen equipment in the high school cafeteria.

Despite the projects and additional staff members, the district’s state aid allows the tax rate to remain stable. The district has also prioritized its needs, Palaski said.

"We’re efficient," added board President Regis Wyluda.

The hearing will be held at 7 p.m. in the high school library, with the board’s regular meeting to follow.

In other business at Monday’s pre-meeting, board members plan to send a letter to the mayor and Borough Council regarding a promised meeting on traffic issues. At a Feb. 28 meeting, district officials objected to a $7,500 traffic study performed on the education campus under the direction of the borough council. The study did not take the district’s needs, and its own work on the issue, into account, officials said.

Traffic and parking have been issues of concern since the educational campus opened in 1997.

At the Feb. 28 meeting, borough officials agreed to meet with the district’s Safety and Risk Management Committee as well as THP Inc. of East Brunswick, which performed the borough’s traffic study, and members of the South River Police Department. However, district officials say that they’ve not heard anything on the issue since.

"We’ve heard nothing from them at all," said Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Ambrogi. "It’s always the board that follows through on this thing."

Board members agreed to send the governing body a letter regarding this issue.