Tax Increase, Staff Cuts Approved In Bernards Township School Budget

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Bernards Township homeowners will see a school tax increase and staffing position cuts across the district in the upcoming 2025-26 school year.

"I understand this is not necessarily the most welcome news, but we are trying to maintain all of our programs with high quality and still manage with a tax levy that you are not going to look at and be stunned," said Superintendent Nick Markarian at the Monday night Board of Education(BOE) meeting

The Bernards Township BOE unanimously approved the budget of $128,523,243 for the 2025-26 school year at the Monday night meeting. This is an increase of 3.97 percent or roughly $3.7 million in the local tax levy, or 4.22 percent in total over the 2024-25 budget.

Under the approved budget, the tax impact on the average home property in Bernards Township valued at $871,769.11 will pay $9,542.89 or an increase of $405.97 for the year.

The budget also includes cutting 28 school staff positions and program reductions to close a $2.5 million gap in the district's budget.

"These reductions were necessary in order to balance the budget for 2025-26," said Superintendent Nick Markarian at the BOE meeting. "When you have to make $2.5 million in reductions, nobody is happy. Nobody likes having to have less. We don’t volunteer to have less. But sometimes we have to work with a little bit less."

"Having lived through budget cuts on the board its very upsetting and sad when we have to cut any programs or do anything that impacts our students and staff," said Board Vice President Robin McKeon. "Our responsibility as board members is to make decisions in the best interest of the students."

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.

"It's not a place you want to be. You always want to be able to bring more programs, more teachers into a school," said Board President Jennifer White. "So when you are out in a position where you have to do this, you have to look at this in its entirety to try to make reductions that will have the least impact."

Students and parents spoke for more than an hour, voicing their opposition to some staff cuts, including in the music and arts programs.

"I urge the board to reconsider this decision and keep the choir thriving," said a senior at Ridge High School.

The gap in the budget can be attributed to a number of factors.

In February, the district was again hit with bad news that they are expected to get $247,891 or 3 percent less than last year in school aid.

Business Administrator James Rollo also previously 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 budget also includes a number of projects across the district, including:

• Mount Prospect Roof (ROD Grant will get 40 percent back) - $1,515,700
• Cedar Hill Direct Install - $332,025
• Oak Street Direct Install - $754,979
• District Wide Flooring - $405,500
• District Wide Phone System - $105,000
• New 54Passenger School Bus - $150,000
• Mount Prospect Playground Wall - $50,000
• Liberty Corner Art Room Casework - $35,000

"A few months ago, when we were first shown the preliminary budget. I asked the administration, 'What’s going to keep you up at night?' Nick looked at me and said, 'The worst part is we are going to lose a lot of great staff'. That stuck with me. It's a reminder that behind every number is a person, and every decision we make affects real lives - our students, our teachers, and our community," said Board member David Shaw. "I want everyone to know we are doing everything we can to find solutions that minimize the impact on students, staff, and the town."

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