School Aid not All It Seems

Last week, the state Department of Education announced that additional funding was being restored to every school system in the state, including about $1.16 million for Belleville.

But Edward Appleton, the school district’s business administrator, said during Monday’s meeting of the Belleville Board of Education that the funding increase was not what it seemed.

“Unfortunately the way it was presented to the newspapers was somewhat confusing. That number [$1.16 million] represents the entire increase from the 2010-11 school year to the 2011-12 school year,” Appleton said.

The budget passed in April already included about half the state aid award announced last week, meaning that Belleville in effect received just an additional $578,000 in aid, Appleton said. The office of Gov. Christie has urged school districts to use that money for property tax relief, although Appleton said that was not feasible in Belleville’s case.

“We’re a minimum tax-levy district,” Appleton said Monday. A state formula determines the minimum amount Belleville must raise through the tax levy, and cannot go below that, Appleton said. The budget passed in April called for no increase in the tax levy.

The money can be used for a variety of purposes, but those must be first approved by the Essex County superintendent of schools, Appleton and board members stressed. No decision was made Monday on how the board would like to spend the money.

In other news:

• Joanne Borin, a field service representative of the New Jersey State School Boards Association, met with the board to review ethics guidelines and to discuss setting district goals. An SBA representative meets annually with the board for such discussions. Borin commended the board for reaching a number of goals, including improving scores on some standardized tests, a near-100 percent graduation rate at Belleville High and for upgrading policy manuals and curriculum guides. Borin also reviewed ethics requirements, including prohibitions against board members interfering with district hiring practices and against direct contact with district employees. Board members should only interact directly with the superintendent, Borin said.
• The board accepted the retirements of district employees Joanne Jovelle-Kessell, Pamela Hagerty and Elaine Coltre; and the resignations of Anne Fetherston and Denise Tzouganatos. Annarella Valdivia was named school pyschologist, Frank Longo (no relation to board member Joe Longo) to head custodian, and Andres Moya to carpenter. Superintendent Joseph Picardo said that while the district still has “12 retirements and two people out” he has received “hundreds of resumes.”
• Parents and students from School 9 again spoke out against the removal of Principal Nanette Rotonda, who has been installed as the principal of School 5, replacing Gabriel Nazziola. At least a few parents alluded to accusations made last week by Nazziola, who appeared before the board to appeal the district’s decision not to reinstate him and blamed the decision on Nazziola’s failure to make politically tinged decisions. Board president Peter Zangari called those allegations “baseless,” while board attorney Al DeMeo cautioned one speaker Monday that her comments referring to Nazziola’s testimony were potentially “libelous.”