Aid increase to help

E.B. schools budget
More teachers,
increased costs likely
in 2004-05 package
BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer

EAST BRUNSWICK — State aid for the township’s school district will be increased for the first time in several years, officials learned last week.

The district will receive a 3 percent increase, or approximately $536,000, in state aid next year over what it has received in each of the last two years. In total, the school district will see almost $19 million in aid for 2004-05.

But Board of Education members were not as enthusiastic about the news as one might think.

They pointed to an increasing student enrollment and higher special education costs as reasons why the aid is more of a relief than a boon.

"We’ll have more students and cost-of-living increases," said Board Vice President Jodi Doud, adding that special education costs alone will go up by more than 3 percent.

As for the increase, she said, "Well, it’s certainly better than the flat funding we’ve had the last two years."

Most of the budgetary expenses increasing in the proposed 2004-05 budget, which is still in a preliminary stage, are in areas the board cannot control, such as transportation, special education, health insurance and other costs, Doud said.

The board has not yet released budget figures or given any indication regarding the impact on taxes, but a tax increase is expected.

While it was not known when the budget would be officially introduced, the board is scheduled to meet every Thursday night in March to discuss it, culminating with a March 23 public hearing to be broadcast live on EBTV. The budget is scheduled for adoption March 25.

Recently, the board discussed adding more guidance counselors in the 2004-05 budget, but officials have already decided against doing so, Doud said.

The budget does, however, include the equivalent of 16 more full-time teaching positions in East Brunswick’s schools — 11.8 being proposed for the high school.

The 2003-04 budget was approved by voters last April after the board cut funding in a variety of areas, particularly in administrative expenses. The $102 million budget still carried a tax rate increase of 29.6 cents per $100 of assessed value.

Later last year, the board reached an agreement with the teachers’ union for a new contract that reduced the cost of health benefits for the district.

At Thursday’s meeting, School Business Administrator and Board Secretary Bernardo Giuliana said the school district was able to avoid about $1.1 million worth of health insurance costs this year, and even more next year.

Board President Michael Baker said the actual cost of health insurance will not decrease in this budget, but that the board would have had to pay much more if the health insurance changes had not been agreed upon by the association and district.

"The level of increase has been substantially slowed," Baker said.

Doud, who is also head of the board’s finance committee, said the budget now has little room for further cuts.

"There’s not that much left to cut," she said. "Most of the [discretionary] things did go."

Officials are proposing a cut this year to funding related to the Middlesex County Arts High School, where the district has paid to send students. The enrichment program is now proposed to be financed by parents whose children participate. The cut will save the district between $25,000 and $30,000 per year, Doud said.

Officials also said the state "advised districts not to exceed the per-pupil administrative spending threshold, as calculated in the annual Comparative Spending Guide."

The district is below that number, and was also below it by about $2.1 million in the 2003-04 budget.

Student enrollment is scheduled to grow from 8,955 in October 2003 to 9,155 for the start of the 2004 school year, according to the school board.

Doud said the board will again apply for state extraordinary aid, which is used to help offset special education costs. She said feedback from East Brunswick residents helped persuade state officials to award the district additional extraordinary aid last year.