School Board Goes Own Way on Budget Cuts

The Wyckoff Board of Education has avoided some of the Township Committee's recommended budget cuts in slashing its defeated 2010-11 spending plan by $478,135.

With the board's unanimous vote at a special meeting Monday night, the average property owner (based on a $807,000 assessment) will see their taxes rise by $209.30 annually to finance a $31,329,978 tax levy in support of a $33.3 million spending plan, instead of the proposed average $290 hike under the defeated budget.

While the reduced tax levy was virtually guaranteed once the governing body decided to recommend the , the school board was under no obligation to follow the Township Committee's line-item suggestions and indeed rejected several proposals.

Spending on substitute teachers will not be reduced in the 2010-11 plan, as proposed by the committee, which felt that subs were being overused throughout the district to the point of affecting kids' lesson plans. Accordingly, the governing body recommended reducing the money spent on subs by $80,000, which prompted the concern of the board.

"We're extremely cognizant of the problems with substitutes," said school board member Thomas Giamanco, chairman of the board's Finance Committee. "We have to remedy that... but the remedy is not to cut funding."

Committeeman Chris DePhillips, a member of the governing body's Finance Committee, told the board they would be "missing an opportunity to address what I see as a serious issue" with cost on subs "spinning out of control.

"There's no other way to deal with the issue but to cut the budget," said DePhillips, who opined that the prevalence of subs "resonates more than any other issue" in the community, with the exception of teacher compensation.

"The only way to address it is to stop it," DePhillips said.

Giamanco said that the approximately $350,000 budgeted for substitutes is necessary, as the district can't plan illnesses, maternity or other leaves. "If we don't have funding for substitutes, then what?"

Instead, he said the board will have to address how to limit teacher absences outside of such unplanned leaves, such as conference and training attendance.

"We have to change the scheduling to better accomplish less substitutes," he said. "The only approach is to properly manage teachers' time."

Acting Superintendent Richard Kuder agreed. "We are committed to significantly reducing the amount of time teachers are pulled out of the classroom... we didn't feel cutting money would affect that cause."

The board also didn't feel that cutting a language arts training program for teachers would be worthwhile, as recommended by the Township Committee. The $39,635 expense also would have served to cut down on substitute costs made necessary by the training.

However, as the district is in the third year of the program, it would be a "waste of prior time and expense" to eliminate it, according to Giamanco.

The school board also rejected a proposal to save $21,000 by asking the district's administrators to forgo 1.5 percent of their salary increase next year. Giamanco said the board "can't touch a contract," as the salaries have been negotiated. Any such savings would have had to have been a voluntary giveback.

The board also will cut money allocated for painting and paving projects, saving $158,432. However, the governing body's recommendation identified $200,000 in such maintenance work that could be cut. Business Administrator Alan Reiffe explained that anticipated milling work for the paving jobs will not have to be accomplished, resulting in "considerable savings." Reducing money for paving will also reduce the fees paid for architectural work, saving the district $14,549.

However, the board wasn't pleased with making the maintenance cuts, with Giamanco explaining, as former board President Dan Moynihan has done in the past, that putting off such work only creates future expenses.

"We're just moving that cost over," he said. "It's not fat; costs are just being pushed forward."

The school board was able to extract extra savings in two unanticipated areas. It elected to appropriate $71,310 in fund balance toward reducing the tax levy, rather than the $37,500 the governing body anticipated would be available as it went through its review. Additionally, $100,000 in savings anticipated due to teacher retirements was increased to $172,056, as more teachers have put in their papers since the committee completed its work. Those senior teachers will be replaced by those much lower on the pay scale.

Additionally, the board will eliminate a planned secretarial position for the district office that would have served to handle residency issues while assisting the director of curriculum at a $44,255 salary. Instead, the school secretaries will continue to handle residency work, and the director of curriculum will not see new help.

Eliminating the planned secretarial position while also putting off hiring a permanent child study chairperson will also save in health benefit costs, representing $22,533 not initially recommended by the committee.

The Township Committee, on Finance Chairman David Connolly and Committeeman Brian Scanlan's suggestions, had recommended the restoration of $5,000 toward the track and field program, slashed alongside other interscholastic sports. While the school board included the $5,000, track may not necessarily be run at Eisenhower next year.

"It seems prejudicial" to add one sport and not all, Giamanco said.

Additionally, the program would cost $12,000 to be restored; DePhillips said he and his colleagues were informed by the board that $5,000 would be sufficient.

The committee had hoped to add track because it doesn't have an equivalent within Wyckoff Recreation. Giamanco worried that doing so could result in a boost in enrollment that couldn't be paid for and questioned the fairness of adding one sport over others.

However, the board is still considering options related to sports, including possible user fees. Should track not be restored, the $5,000 put back into the budget would go toward fund balance to reduce taxes next budget cycle.

Finally, the school board elected not to slash an additional $5,000 dedicated toward paying for attendance at the annual school board conference in Atlantic City.

The school board's cuts are as follows:

• $172,056 in salary reductions (teacher retirements);
• $44,255 to eliminate a new secretarial position;
• $82,981 for painting;
• $22,533 in health benefits;
• $14,549 in architectural fees;
• $75,451 for paving;

The board also will appropriate $71,310 in fund balance and add $5,000 toward the possible restoration of the track program for a $478,135 cut from the tax levy.