Central Regional School Officials Push For 2012 Budget Approval

Central Regional Superintendent will be spending the next few months doing whatever he can to make sure the 2012 budget passes.

“It used to be people said if a budget failed nothing changed. Well [after last year’s budget was defeated] we lost freshman sports, we lost new uniforms for athletics, we lost teachers. We need to get the budget passed or the cuts will be more severe,” said Parlapanides.

. The defeat resulted in a series of angry meetings between Seaside Park and representatives of the other four sending towns. In the end, many Central board members voted "with disgust" to $850,000 in budget cuts.

Parlapanides has a busy schedule to get the vote out events slated for the coming month. It includes meeting with the faculty of the Berkeley Township school district; the faculty; senior citizen groups and holding a pizza party voter registration drive for young alumni of the high school.

The district will hold voter registration events in all of its senior English classes and also has a Facebook effort to encourage students who are of legal age to vote, he said.

“A lot of kids want to take an active role in the school district," Parlapanides said. "There's a lot of pride involved. A lot are excited about voting for the first time. It will take efforts of staff and students coming together to get this done.”

Parlapanides also said voter registration will be available during parent-teacher conferences that are to be held in the next few weeks.

Parlapanides said he will also emphasize the effects of a at the community meetings.

“It used to be people said if a budget failed nothing changed," he said. "Well, we lost freshman sports, we lost new uniforms for athletics, we lost teachers. We need to get the budget passed or the cuts will be more severe.”

He also noted that at 2011 failed budget initially called for the cutting of the school play and sports busing, but later grant money enabled those programs to be reinstated.

The district has had to cut 23 teachers and administrative positions in the past three years due to defeated budgets, which leads to larger class sizes, Parlapanides said.

Also cut were the positions of assistant superintendent and assistant principal, and the principal position was cut down to a 10 month position, he said.

Central Regional voters have not passed a school budget since 2001. Parlapanides spoke about the need to reverse that trend.

“It’s an absolute must," he said. "Whatever it takes. At this point people realize we have to pass the budget.”

Parlapanides said for years Central Regional would build a surplus into its proposed budget, just as many other school districts do.

However, in recent years he said he and schools Business Administrator decided not to include surplus in the proposed budget. 

“We decided this is how much it costs to run Central Regional, that’s what we will ask for in taxes," Parlapanides said. "So when the budget fails positions get cut. We don’t have the luxury of taking from the surplus anymore.”

Parlapanides said the district will select dates at the Board of Education’s January meeting for future budget meetings. He anticipates having a budget presentation sometime in February.

Parlapanides added he believes the district has proven to be “fiscally responsible” in recent years. He cited the recent cell tower and projects as examples of how school officials have sought revenue sources outside of property taxes.

He added a proposed the wellness center will bring 180 jobs to the community and create a new ratable for the municipal tax rolls. It will also offer “a lot of positives for the senior community” such as free screenings.

“We are doing our part, we just need the support of the community to get the budget passed,” said Parlapanides. “It’s a critical year for us. We want to continue to move forward and get everyone out to vote. We hope to make history this year and turn around our fortunes on budgets.”