Superintendent Joe Bollendorf said the district is looking to potentially receive about a $1 million increase in state aid.
By Krista Cerminaro
The Washington Township Board of Education discussed a tentative 2018–19 budget during a presentation at the meeting on Thursday, March 22.
Superintendent Joe Bollendorf emphasized the budget was subject to change, and the final presentation would take place at the Board of Education meeting on April 24.
Bollendorf said the district is looking to potentially receive a $1,016,549 increase in state aid from last year.
Bollendorf said the local tax levy was $84,706,062 last year. This year, with the tentative budget proposal, it will amount to $86,396,0673.
Bollendorf noted that if they did apply the 2 percent tax cap — which is solely based on whether they receive the $1 million in state aid — the tax impact will be about a $6.73 monthly increase on the average assessed home of $210,000.
“It’s important to note that the million dollars pretty much supplements the million dollars they took away in July of last year, so essentially, the budget is about where it was before that money was taken away,” Bollendorf said.
Bollendorf said the board was due to receive $3.5 million in adjustment aid last year, but $1 million was taken away in July, leaving them with $2.5 million.
“They did not give us back that $1 million in adjustment aid — they gave us $1 million in special education and in security aid,” Bollendorf said. “A lot of dollars that are generated through revenue in this district that would otherwise go to regular education are going to support the needs of special education. So, we get that money, that obviously offsets that cost of special education and frees the regular education dollars to go to other parts of the program.”
“What they were trying to do is to take dollars from districts who perhaps have had declining enrollments over the past several years, but have been flat funded, and push some of that money to districts that have growing enrollments, but weren’t getting additional dollars,” Bollendorf continued, noting Gov. Murphy’s goal is for all districts to be funded appropriately.
“At the end of the day, there needs to be new revenue streams in order to support our schools properly,” Bollendorf said. “I think this governor is looking in that direction, which gives me a lot of hope, in terms of what the future may hold.”
Bollendorf stated, however, the board is in “a place of uncertainty” as to whether they’ll receive that allotted amount in state aid this upcoming year.
“As we move forward in time, and have a clearer picture as to really where the number is — in hopes that it doesn’t change — I think you’ll see a change in some of the other things that are being presented, that will come as a pleasant surprise to the taxpayers of Washington Township,” Bollendorf said.
According to Bollendorf, a few of the 2018–2019 budget goals include continuing to provide a safe environment, maintaining an average class size of 25, enhancing programs that will prepare students for the 21st century, ensuring staffing is commensurate with enrollment and minimizing the tax impact, while maximizing the efficient use of tax dollars.
As far as staffing, Bollendorf noted the board is looking at an anticipated increase in staff members, equivalent to 1.6, in various categories.
“The reason for that, primarily, is the amazing job that our special education department has done in creating programing that is allowing us to bring students from out-of-district placements that are incredibly expensive, back into the district,” Bollendorf explained. “In order to provide those programs here in Washington Township, that requires staffing — but, the staffing cost is a drop in the bucket compared to what it costs to send these children out of district. You’ll see a significant savings on tuition.”
Bollendorf noted a savings of more than $1 million in terms of offsetting expenses for the district.
The budget also allocated for replacing and expanding camera systems for security purposes, as well as the continuation of the township’s lock replacement plan, which is estimated to be completed for the high school by the end of 2018, and for all other schools by the end of this summer.
“This is the electronic lock replacement plan that’s really going to put us on the forefront — from a security perspective — that will allow us to lock down, electronically, all of our buildings,” Bollendorf said.
The three-year project has an estimated annual cost of roughly $200,000.
“We’re not just talking about hardware, we’re talking about sophisticated locks that are being integrated with software that is going to be accessible by our local police department, that is going to be integrated for the camera system — it’s really going to be state-of-the-art in terms of adding another layer of security in each of our schools, that will allow communication between staff members, administration and police. It’s really very critical. It’s an expensive, ongoing, long proposition in terms of putting this in place. We’d like to be able to do it all at once, and it’s just not possible,” Bollendorf explained.
The estimated costs of capital projects for 2018–2019 will be just less than $4 million, according to Bollendorf.
Some capital projects include carpet and tile replacement — which includes asbestos abatement — driving the cost up, two science lab renovations that date back to 1964, replacement of exterior doors at Thomas Jefferson and Hurffville elementary schools, parking lot drop-off modifications at Whitman, and HVAC work at Wedgewood, Thomas Jefferson and WTHS.
“Providing heat and air-conditioning to our buildings is an expensive proposition, as machinery is in constant need of repair and replacement,” Bollendorf said. “It has to be continuously budgeted for.”
“If that million dollars stays in play and it’s ours to keep, and we know that by April 24, we’ll come back and strike a new budget that’ll look vastly different than this one does. If we go back and start making cuts to the budget, it’s going to probably, in most cases, be in the area of capital projects.”
Bollendorf also noted student enrollment is not decreasing, and the district only anticipates a decrease of one student district-wide.
“We’re seeing an increase in building going on in our township, and families are starting to move into some of those homes. So, we’re seeing an influx,” Bollendorf said. “That steady decline that we were experiencing for so long, I think, is starting to slow down.”
