School Board Meets at High School Thursday

There’s plenty going on in town this week, but most notably the Hackettstown Public School District Board of Education will be meeting Thursday, following two very big sessions.

At it’s last meeting in March, the board adopted the 2013-14 budget, which included a $106 tax hike for the average homeowner in town.

That budget saw an increase in state aid, but is expected to be short on the federal aid side due to sequestration. Business Administrator Teresa Barna said the board budgeted for just 75-percent of the federal aid amount it received in the current year’s spending plan.

In the same meeting, the board approved a $930,000 measure and commissioned the Mak Group for the high school’s roof replacement project.

Superintendent David Mango and the administration also held its second Strategic Planning meeting at the high school, which was open to all residents. At the first session in January, Mango discussed potentially combining schools and selling others as a potential future direction.

Security enhancements to the district’s buildings were also a major topic and factored into the budget for the coming year.

The board will meet Thursday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at the Hackettstown High School. The meeting is open to the public and residents are encouraged to attend.