School Report Card: Hopatcong Spends Less Per Student While State Average Rises

Hopatcong spent less per student in 2009-10 than in the previous year while the state's spending increased, according to data released Tuesday by the state Department of Education.

Superintendent Dr. Charles Maranazno said that's good news and bad news.

"Good news is we're spending less than the state average, which went up … and the cost per pupil in Hopatcong went down," he said. "The bad news is we've really stretched our resources and so we're challenged to deliver a level of educational services that those extra services buy."

Hopatcong spent $14,395 per student in 09-10—$293 less than in 08-09. Meanwhile, the state increased its per-pupil spending $317 from $15,221 to $15,538.

Click here for Hopatcong's full report card.

Maranzano said while he's happy the school was spending less, which was a result of losing $1.7 million in state aid last year, he was concerned about catering to students as Hopatcong's class sizes expand and jobs are cut.

The district's student-teacher ratio, according to school statistics, was 12.4 in 2008-2009. In 2009-2010, it rose to 12.5 and this year it jumped to 13.8.

"My concern is that we lose the ability to nurture when your class sizes start to increase and your resources start to shrink," Maranzano said. "And that's the challenge. There's no immediate feedback on that. You don't see an immediate effect on those decreases until 5, 10, 15 years down the road."

Maranazno also said about 25 percent of Hopatcong students are classified as "special needs," which he called a "very high" number. Special needs students cost more than the rest of the student population.

"There's a double-edged sword to having a lower per-pupil cost in that comes at the expense of individualized attention in our classrooms," he said, "and we strive to give individualized attention because children don't come to us in a one-size-fits-all package.

"That's the danger we're concerned about when we talk about the governor's sweeping efforts to reform education when really what he's doing is he's deforming education in the state. He's dealing us a blow that's going to be very hard to live with by forcing us to operate with far less money."

Maranzano also said more cuts will be necessary in 2011.

"The only way I can produce a balanced budget this year as I did last year is to cut people," he said. "I have no ability to raise the kind of money I need to sustain the kind of programs that are in place."