Letter to the Editor: Cuts Made to Programs, Staff

Editor's note: The following letter to residents has been posted on the Wyckoff School District's Web site, http://www.wyckoffps.org.

Dear Wyckoff residents:

The Wyckoff School District is facing unique and unprecedented times with regard to the development of our school budget. Governor Christie has made a number of cuts to our local budget that will have long-lasting effects on the delivery of education in Wyckoff and statewide. We are working diligently to prepare a budget that will be educationally sound and fiscally responsible.

As many of you know, last Wednesday afternoon we were informed that the state aid to support our 2010-11 Wyckoff school budget was reduced by $1.45 million. This represents a 100 percent loss of state aid and far exceeds our initial estimates of a 15 percent loss. The district had anticipated losing approximately $200,000 in state aid (15 percent) and now must close the gap of about $1.25 million.

After conferring with the FLOW superintendents and business administrators struggling with similar losses in state aid, as well as discussion with members of the Finance Committee of the Board of Education, a decision was made by our district to absorb as much as possible by budget reductions, rather than have the entire amount presented to the taxpayers in our township as a tax levy increase. Other districts in the county are looking to pass most, if not all, of the increase to the taxpayers. We do not believe this to be the best course of action.

We have spent the past week working with our district administrators to develop a plan to reduce the budget that would minimize the effect on our students' programs while maintaining the high quality educational opportunities for our students, which parents and community members have become accustomed to over the years.

In order to meet the challenges presented by the 100 percent cut in state aid, we have developed a course of action that has several primary components:

First, we will be decreasing previously budgeted capital outlay expenditures for improvements to our facilities by $390,000. Under the circumstances, we believe it is acceptable to defer some of our capital expenditures, though the projects deferred must be addressed in the future. What we put off today will need to be funded later.

The second component provides for budget reductions in the operations of the district by a combined $419,509. This is going to be achieved through various staff cuts, elimination of some programs and changes to the delivery of some educational services. This will include the elimination of some instructional and support personnel, several extra-curricular activities and selected specialist areas.

Finally, while the reductions are painful, we are confident that the identified reductions in our operating budget will not have a materially adverse effect on our educational programs. As a consequence of these reductions, the net impact of the loss of $1.45 million in state aid will result in an increase of $441,259 to the total tax levy. This will equate to a total increase in taxes of 4.22 percent or approximately $290 for the average home assessed at $807,000. In the upcoming days, we will finalize our proposed budget.

An April 1 public budget hearing has been scheduled to take place at 8 p.m. in the Eisenhower Middle School cafeteria. Please attend this important hearing so that you will have the opportunity to learn about our budget and how the 100 percent loss of state aid has affected our district for the 2010-11 school year. 

Daniel P. Moynihan 
president, Wyckoff Board of Education