School
taxes to stay same
Phillipsburg board OK's budget.
Proposed spending plan for 2006-07 includes money for 35 new
staff positions.
Tuesday, March 14, 206 • By SARAH CASSI •
The Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | For the 13th consecutive
year, the school district is proposing a budget to the
voters that calls for no increase in the tax
rate.
The board unanimously approved a $65.9
million spending plan Monday night for the 2006-07 school
year.
The budget hinges on almost $10 million
in discretionary aid -- state money awarded to New Jersey's
31 poorest districts known as Abbott districts, a group that
includes Phillipsburg.
"That's our first shot," Business
Administrator Bill Poch said of the requested
aid.
Poch said the town's assessed value
increased and the district's debt service costs decreased,
so the proposed school tax rate would actually be 2 cents
less at $1.13 for each $100 of assessed property
value.
Poch said the biggest change in the
budget is 35 new positions, which include eight new staffers
for an alternative education program at the elementary
level.
The district currently has alternative
education programs at the high school and middle school
levels, Poch said.
The elementary program would be
15-student classes, one for grades 1-2 and one class for
grades 3-5, for students "that for whatever reason are not
fitting into the mainstream," Poch said, adding it hasn't
been decided where the classes will be held.
The other positions include four security
guards, one for each elementary school, and parent
liaisons.
The district currently has close to 680
staff members, Poch said, adding the new positions would be
the first to go if the requested state funding is
cut.
Poch said there are also several fairly
big capital projects in the proposed budget. The biggest
projects include resurfacing the high school track for
$225,000 and new equipment and a modular building for the
proposed high school athletic grounds.
The budget also includes padding in
anticipation of the new contract being negotiated with the
teachers union. Poch declined to reveal the percentage he
estimated the contracts would increase.
The budget will be submitted to the state
today and a public hearing is planned for March 27, said
Poch.
The state has until May to decide on the
discretionary aid.
Reporter Sarah Cassi can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by
e-mail at scassi@express-times.com.
© 2006 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
|