P'burg
schools budget on ice
SPENDING HOLD comes on heels of
governor's plan to freeze Abbott funding.
Tuesday, April 11, 206 • By SARAH CASSI • The
Express-Times
PHILLIPSBURG | The new positions and
programs proposed in the school district's 2006-2007 budget
are officially in limbo due to questions about state
funding.
Funding is frozen for "any extra spending
we don't deem necessary," Superintendent Gordon Pethick said
at the school board's meeting Monday night.
Necessary spending would include health
and safety positions, as well as "spending that is critical
to keep a good, operational program," Pethick
said.
Officials said the freeze is in response
Gov. Jon Corzine's announcement Friday that his
administration would seek approval from the state Supreme
Court to freeze overall funding to the 31 Abbott
districts.
Abbott districts are the state's poorest
school districts named after the landmark case Abbott v.
Burke that ordered equitable per-pupil financing.
Under the freeze Pethick said a school
nurse position would be filled, but proposed positions for
new programs would remain empty.
Phillipsburg has requested $8.8 million
in supplemental funding for its $65.9 million spending plan,
13.4 percent of its budget. The supplemental aid would fund
about 30 new positions and programs such as an alternative
education program at the elementary level.
Pethick said the budget will remain
frozen until the district has a better understanding of
where it's headed, which could come from a court
decision.
Pethick added that any vacancies created
this year may go unfilled.
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.
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