School Board Still Finalizing Spending Cuts

The Wyckoff Board of Education plans to absorb the majority of its state aid loss with expenditure cuts, although a portion of funds lost will likely be applied toward the tax levy.

The board has submitted its revised 2010-11 budget plan to the county superintendent, barely a week after learning that it would lose its entire formula aid package—.

The board and administration could have applied the entire loss toward the tax levy under an expenditure waiver (districts cannot exceed a 4 percent increase) but decided to apply $441,259 toward the amount to be raised by taxation while making more than $1 million in cuts to the planned budget.

However, the administration stresses that numbers are not final. Officials will be meeting with district administrators on Monday, and the planned cuts can change before the board holds a public hearing on the budget plan on April 1.

The board had projected a $36.5 million budget when it was assuming state aid would be held flat, although it later was notified to brace for a possible 15 percent reduction in the $1.45 million award. Instead, Gov. Chris Christie's plan to cut aid by up to 5 percent of total school budgets left Wyckoff with nothing, as its aid doesn't even reach that percentage.

The revised plan, available as a pdf document attached to this article, calls for a $35.7 million budget that incorporates cuts to several areas.

A $75,000 reduction would eliminate interscholastic sports programs, the administration said, while capital expenditures are projected to be cut from the planned $684,500 outlay to $294,500. District officials have warned that such cuts in capital projects only delays work that must be completed at some point.

More than $260,000 has been cut in programming expenses from the initial proposed budget to the revised document, while basic skills education and bilingual programs would see less funding than initially projected. The outlay for health services shows a reduction from what was planned, while money will also be saved in planned transportation costs and projected employee benefit expenses.

Staff reductions are still possible, although no positions have yet been publicly identified.

Additionally, Christie has called on teacher's unions to renegotiate their contracts with their districts, with hopes of achieving wage freezes and health-care contributions that would offset the cuts most all districts are making to deal with the state aid loss. The administration said that letters have gone out to the Wyckoff Education Association to request meetings in that regard, although it was unlikely that anything could be accomplished before the next budget hearing, even if there was a desire to do so.

Wyckoff Education Association President Kathy Bowers could not be immediately reached for comment.

The administration and board will continue to work to identify cuts before its public hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m. April 1 at Eisenhower Middle School.