School District Budget Hearing to Be Held During Spring Break

After going back and forth between several dates, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education determined Thursday that its public hearing on the 2010-2011 budget shall be held on Wednesday, March 31.

Yes, that's right in the middle of the district's spring break, but Business Administrator Anthony Del Sordi said the district is required to hold the hearing  the week of the 29th.

That inconvenience is partly what caused the board to have a difficult time deciding on the best date. Board member Donald Parisi noted that he would be out of town half of the week and Board member Karen Kulikowski said she was also unavailable on the 31st. The board had originally explored holding the hearing on March 30, but decided against it since it's the first day of Passover (now it's on the second day). They were also concerned about holding it too late in the week, knowing that many people may be out of town.

The tentative budget will be presented on March 18, two days after Gov. Chris Christie's address in which he announces just how deep state aid cuts to schools will be for 2010-2011. The district is currently anticipating a budget of $83,796,355, a 2.62 percent increase over the current year. That was created with a 4 percent cap and under the assumption that the district will lose 10 percent in state aid for 2010-2011. That number could be as high as 15 percent, though.

Parisi noted that he felt March 18 was really when the public should come out and share its input, rather than waiting until the district finalizes the budget.

"Depending on what happens on the 16th it could be a little more controversial than anticipated," said Board President Trip Whitehouse.

The board has canceled its March 25 meeting in anticipation of the hearing, which will also be considered a regular board session with other actions taken. The district's legal counsel, Casper Boehm, suggested the board try to get as much of its routine work accomplished at the March 18 meeting to help make the March 31 one more efficient.