Schools

Increase in State Aid Won't Eliminate Tough Decisions for Red Bank Board of Ed

Despite the good news of receiving additional state aid, the board will likely still be faced with difficult decisions.

A modest increase in state aid is welcome news for the Red Bank Board of Education, but officials say the tough decisions the board made when it approved its tentative budget likely aren’t going away.

Soon after approving its tentative budget, which was prepared with the anticipation of no increase in state aid, the district learned that Gov. Chris Christie’s administration had upped school funding for the state’s districts.

With more than $151,000 in additional aid, the board should be able to amend some of the tough decisions it approved along with its 2011-12 budget, but it’s unlikely the sum will make a dramatic impact on its revised district.

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District Business Administrator Annie Darrow said about $25,000 of the new total will be used to pay down debts. But, with the district mulling a tax increase, job eliminations, and cuts near-across the board, what to do with the remaining sum presents a difficult decision for the board.

“We’re discussing and scrambling now, talking about what our priorities in the district are,” she said. “We have lots of things that we’ve got to consider.”

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Red Bank School District’s tentative budget of $18.918 million represents an increase of 1.9 percent from its last budget. Of the total, $12.269 million will be raised through taxes, an increase of more than $200,000 from last year’s levy.

Despite the budget increase – attributed to the rising costs of, among other things, benefits – Superintendent Laura Morana’s budget presentation included numerous cuts, including the possibility of eliminating multiple teaching positions in the district.

Without adequate funding, the district has also put several maintenance projects on hold.

“There are lots of priorities,” Darrow said. “Everything needs to be discussed with the board, and, ultimately, it’s their decision.”

The board is hosting a special meeting at the middle school tonight at 6:30pm to discuss its revised budget. The budget must be approved by the Red Bank board in March.


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