'7 Big Wins' In Haddon Township Schools 2022-23 Budget: Superintendent

HADDON TOWNSHIP, NJ — The Haddon Township School District's approved budget for 2022-23 helps the district meet its objective of providing inclusive education to its students, the district's superintendent said.

The school district budget also allows the district to work towards its other goals of offering education tailored to meet individual students' needs and enhancing the physical environment in which students learn, Superintendent Robert J. Fisicaro said at a May 5 meeting.

He noted that the approved budget also contains these "seven big wins":

• State funding totaling $393,000 (which stems from district-wide enrollment increasing by 40 students).
• Free full-day kindergarten program (which contains a half day of instruction for all participants).
• The ability to make "major facility upgrades" to the high school's stage, theater and lower gym.
• The capacity to change the source of funding of a school counselor's position from a grant to a budget line item (which will provide $100,000 that must be used on one-time purchases during the 2022-23 school year).
• The extension of the school day at Haddon Township School by 23 minutes.
• The ability to hire a gifted and talented/response to intervention teacher.
• The addition a part-time health and physical education teacher to the district faculty.

"We have not had a gifted and talented teacher in this district in quite some time," Fisicaro said. "We're [also] going to add a part-time physical education teacher who specifically ties into student wellness goals."

The school district's budget for 2022-23 is about $35,376,577, and it was about $35,077,554 the school year before, Fisicaro said.

That will mean a property tax increase of $101.66 on the next tax bill for a Haddon Township homeowner whose property is assessed at $231,244, he added.

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