Lacey School District To Lay Off 18 Teaching Positions

by Patricia A. Miller

Everyone knew the news would be bad.

Those who attended Monday night's Lacey Township Board of Education meeting sat silently during Superintendent Sandra Anthony's grim presentation on the 2016-2017 budget.

And the news was bad.

"This was the most challenging budget yet," Anthony said. "No one is happy about this. There is no where else to go."

Burgeoning healthcare costs, the state's 2.5 percent spending cap and fixed costs left the Board of Education little choice in staff cuts.

The district will lay off 18.5 teaching positions, including eight teachers at Lacey Township High School.

The cuts in the teaching positions also include two at Lacey Township Middle School; two at the Cedar Creek Elementary School, three at the Lanoka Harbor Elementary School and 3.5 positions at the Forked River Elementary School.

Other jobs lost will include two administrators, dean of discipline, three health aides, two custodians and one school safety officer.

Courtesy busing will gradually be reduced over the next several years and some class sizes will rise, Anthony said.

Residents with a home assessed at the township average will pay an extra $129 per year to support the $67,655,740 total budget, up $1,847,368 from last year. The amount to be raised by taxation is 44,747,530, up $2,311,913 from last year, a rise of 5.45 percent.

And the budget situation will likely continue in the next few years, Anthony said.

"It is not going to get any easier for this Board of Education in years to come," she said.

To view the budget presentation on the district website, click here.