BOE OKs Specific Line Item Budget Cuts

The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education has voted to accept the line item reductions to the 2010-2011 budget that were recommended by the two town councils last week.

During the board's meeting Tuesday, Member Donald Parisi outlined the specific impact the reductions will have to each respective department.

Salaries of teachers 9-12, $26,000

Parisi said these cuts will impact the music department, with one staffer's duties cut from full-time to ".8," which Parisi said meant he'll have four-fifths the work he used to. Three other stipend positions will also be eliminated. One affects the instrumental side and the other the color guard side. Parisi said it doesn't mean these programs will stop, just that they'll have less people helping to run them. The final elimination impacts the show choir, which Parisi said will cease to exist unless money is found to save that position.

Attendance and Social Work Salaries, $29,000

One position in the attendance office will be reduced to part-time.

Educational Media Services Salaries, $36,213

This equates to the elimination of a clerk position in the media center at the high school. Parisi noted that this does not mean that the media center will go unsupported and that the center's specialist will remain.

Basic Skills Salaries, $45,000

This involves a complete reorganization of the department, which results in their total staff being reduced by .8.

Guidance Salaries, $27,500

This also involves a reorganization of this department, which results in saving half a position.

Child Study Team Salaries, $55,000

Director of Special Services Thomas Beese explained that this equates to two cuts: one a social worker position, and the other still to be determined.

Improvement of Instruction or Staff Training Services Salaries, $36,287

This involves restructuring certain salary items of staff training.

General Administration - Miscellaneous ($25,000) ; Central Services - Purchased Technical ($75,000) ; Central Services - Supplies ($15,000); Administrative Information Technology - Purchased Tech ($30,000); Custodial Services - Purchased Professional and Technical ($10,000); Custodial Services - Cleaning, Repair and Maintenance ($20,000); Custodial - Energy - Gasoline ($15,000)

Parisi explained that all of the above line items had been budgeted for based on an anticipated increase over what the district spent in the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 school year. However, now the district will attempt to fit in these items next year by funding them at the level they spent in 2008-2009.

Care and Upkeep of Grounds Salaries, $35,000

This is the reduction of one full-time staff in the grounds department.

Transportation Supplies, $20,000

Athletic Salaries/Supplies, $100,000

This equates to the elimination of middle school sports. Parisi said it's been determined that this program cannot be supported by the tax levy this year, however the board has had very involved discussions about alternatives. He said that one option may be a pay-to-play system, but explained that there would be huge differences between how the district has administered such a system to date and what it would have to do to save middle school sports. Currently, Parisi said, both of the district's pay-to-play sports - lacrosse and ice hockey - are at the high school level and don't cut athletes. At the middle school level, though, the issues comes up whether you have two teams at each school, or one team for both schools. Additionally, the sports that could be funded through pay-to-play would be sports that do cut athletes, like basketball.

"We're still thinking this through," Parisi said. "We have not come to any specific conclusions about how to go forward. There's a variety of options on the table, and we will embrace input."

Facilities Acquisitions Construction Services, $200,000

This is money that had been budgeted for roofing projects at Evergreen Elementary and Park Middle School. Parisi said that while these projects still need to be completed, the district recognizes it can't afford to do so this year and is going to see if they can get through the year without it.

Increase in Revenue: Budgeted Fund Balance - Operating Budget, $60,000

The district increased its use of surplus for the next school year from $500,000 to $560,000. Parisi said the money is revenue not targeted to anything in particular, but adding it to the budget did result in saving the freshmen sports program.

Total Reductions in Tax Levy: $860,000

"It's important to recognize as you look at this resolution that the overarching goal was 1) to have the least possible impact on students and 2) to be consistent and supportive of the goals we've set in our strategic plan," Parisi said. "The councils made recommendations to foster those two conclusions, goals, and we are in agreement with the administration in recommending the kind of approach you'd see in this resolution."

Parisi noted that at the point of the councils' May 17 meeting, only two board members had reviewed the suggested cuts. Monday night, the finance committee also reviewed them. Tuesday was the opportunity for the rest of the board to state their opinion on the reductions, but not a single board member questioned the decision.

During the public comments section, one mother expressed concern about the cuts to the music department, calling it the "gem and jewel of our community."

"I'm hoping there's some way of keeping this program intact," she said.

PTA mom and BOE meeting regular Rona Goldberg also questioned the board's decision to keep all the councils' suggested reductions as is.

"I know you were involved in every aspect of finding where to cut the $860,000," she said, "but at some point wouldn't it have been better to flex the muscle about who's boss and make one little change?"

"The outcome you see was not the going in position," Parisi responded. "We did do what we needed to do to make sure the amount of tax levy reduction was something we could live with. This ($860,000 cut) is not what the first number was ($1.2 million). That's where we flexed our muscles."

"We weren't in this to get a winner or loser," Board President Trip Whitehouse added. "It really wasn't adversarial – there were discussions on either side. The suggestions weren't bad. ... I don't know if it would've served the district well to make a token change from their suggestions because they were good suggestions. They kept the philosophy that this board holds."

In other budgetary news, Board Member Betty Anne Woerner provided an update on the negotiations with the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Education Association. Woerner told the rest of the board that the negotiating committee met with the SPFEA Monday night for several hours. While they still did not reach an agreement, she said they had "productive discussions" and that "both sides are working very hard on it."

The two parties will be meeting again in June.