28 School Staff Positions Cut In Basking Ridge To Close $2.5M Budget Gap

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Parents and students spoke out against the Board of Education's decision to cut 28 school staff positions and make other program adjustments recently.

"I truly believe our school district thrives because of music and the arts. These programs aren’t just electives or extracurriculars; they are essential. They shape who we are, help us find our place, and give us confidence to keep moving forward every day," said William Annin Middle School student Cole Marshall.

Over the course of 40 minutes more than 15 parents and students spoke out against the cuts, specifically about the impacts to the music and arts programs.

"We need to face the reality of the budget situation, and we're trying to make decisions that affect the least number of students that is possible, so please, we understand," said Boardmember Janice Corrado to the audience. "We appreciate your support."

"We’ve heard everything you’ve said, and I just want you to know that this is very painful to all of us too," said Board President Jennifer White. "I am a huge, huge, huge proponent of the arts because it is something that is very important to my household, but I also recognize that we have a $2.5 million shortfall. The harsh reality is that this is where we are."

The Board of Education unanimously voted to approve the Abolish, Reduction in Force (RIF) & Create Positions 2025-26 School Year item at the April 21 BOE meeting.

This includes cutting 28 school staff positions, which Superintendent Nick Markarian and Board members said was needed to close a $2.5 million gap in their budget.

"We really needed to make reductions to make our budget work," said Markarian at the meeting. "These reductions are for reasons of economy in order to make the budget work, not about the performance or how we feel about how valued an individual may be. We value all of our employees, so we recognize how difficult this is."

Markarian added that the district will work with their staff to make sure they are well supported in their search for future employment.

The cuts included:

Abolishment of the following positions and titles:

1. Supervisor of K-5 Special Education & Interventionist
2. Supervisor of Fine & Practical Arts
3. Supervisor of Special Education 6-12

RIF (Reduction in Force) of the following positions:

1. English Language Arts 6-12 (4 positions)
2. Math Grades 9-12 (2 positions)
3. Social Studies Grades 9-12 (1 position)
4. Speech Grades 9-12 (1 position)
5. Dance Grades 6-8 (1 position)
6. Music Grades 6-8 (1 position)
7. Special Education Grades K-5 (3 positions)
8. Art Grades K-5 (2 positions)
9. Spanish Grades K-5 (2 positions)
10. Special Education Grades 9-12 (1 position)
11. Special Education Grades 6-8 (2 positions)
12. Instructional Coach (1 position)
13. Media Specialist 6-8 (1 position)
14. BTEA Secretary (1 position)
15. K-5 Teacher (1 position)
16. Spanish Grades 9-12 (1 position)

Other reductions include:

• Grade K-5 reductions: delay strings and chorus instruction to fourth grade and eliminate elementary Spanish. "Reducing in these areas allows us to prioritize core instruction and maintain class sizes according to Board of Education guidelines," said Markarian in the SOS Express.
• Grade 6-12: delay the opportunity to have a photography class until high school, eliminate a middle school art and dance cycle, eliminate a game design elective (note that perennially some elective courses don’t run due to lack of enrollment/scheduling decisions and not a lack of staffing) and increase class size. While class sizes will increase, they will remain reasonable because of enrollment decline. However, since there will be less sections of courses and fewer empty seats, there will be less flexibility in the master schedule and in adjusting student schedules. Ridge students have been advised that course level changes will be less available next year.
• Administration: eliminate two supervisor positions; move the two supervisors into existing assistant principal roles. The approach here is to achieve significant savings while retaining content area expertise, experienced leadership, and smooth building operations.

"The recommendations above involve not only the elimination of positions, but also taking advantage of attrition and not filling vacancies caused by people on leave," said Markarian.

"Decisions are really tough here. I don’t think anyone on this board really wants to cut anyone’s positions, whether it be teachers, administrators, programs, whatever it is," said Board member Brett Omelianuk. "This was not a great outcome, but really the best one that has the least impact on the students."

Multiple board members also noted that these types of tough decisions and cuts will likely continue in the coming years unless a solution is found.

"It is not great, I am not happy with it, but it is where we are. The problem is though, that even with these cuts, this doesn't go away," said Board member David Shaw. "Next year, the costs are going up greater than revenues. This is going to continue to be a problem. So what I encourage everybody to do is keep speaking out."

"There will be more cuts next year and the year after that. So I think we do have to find a way to be efficient and have the least impact on our students because that is what everyone here is trying to maintain," said Board member Nimish Amin.

The public hearing on the 2025-26 school budget of $128,523,243 will be at the Board of Education meeting on May 5.

Markarian and Business Administrator James Rollo initially presented the budget on March 10. Read More: $2.51M In Staff Cuts, Tax Increase In Bernards Township Preliminary School Budget

Rollo noted that the largest driver in the budget can be attributed to healthcare costs. Additionally, other main factors included:

• Employee benefits, which is up $3.9 million or 21.65 percent
• Electricity, which is up $147,000 or 16.72 percent
• Custodial, which is up $486,505 or 15.74 percent
• Salaries, which is up $568,611 or 0.84 percent

The average home property value projected in Bernards Township for 2025 will be around $871,769.11, with a tax bill of $9,542.89. Rollo estimated residents would see a tax increase of $405.92.

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