School Administrators Disagree With Town Budget Expert Over 2011-12 Cuts

Manchester School District officials rebutted suggested cuts to their recently defeated 2011-12 budget made by an expert hired by the town council during a nearly three-hour public meeting Thursday night.

Township officials are tasked with finding areas to cut in the $46 million budget, which . As part of that process, the two bodies met to discuss what reductions, if any, could be made.

Dr. Frank Marlow, a former school administrator in New York and New Jersey hired by the township to make recommendations on where the school district's defeated budget could be reduced, said that he could decrease the budget's nearly $39 million tax levy by $331,238.

"My recommendations would not reduce staff, would not reduce or eliminate any programs, they will not affect transportation, they will not affect after-school activities or sports programs," he said. "What I did look for in the budget were areas where revenues have been underestimated and where expenditures have been overestimated." 

"It is important to me to ensure the council that the recommendations I make will not negatively affect the school program and will assure that the board of education is able to conduct a thorough and efficient education program."

Marlow said that $81,000 could be raised by increasing revenues, such as changing the contract with Lakehurst for their students who attend Manchester Township High School.

The remaining $249,000 were cuts from accounts that Marlow believed could be reduced based on how much was spent to-date this year, as the district still has not utilized all of the money allocated to these accounts.

"Which tells me the amount of money they thought they needed at the start of the year was reduced," Marlow said.

But school administrators rebutted Marlow's recommendations, claiming that the cuts were not possible or would come at a cost to educational standards.

The tuition agreement with Lakehurst, for example, is a closed contract that cannot be renegotiated, and Manchester charges exactly for the amount of Lakehurst students it receives, said the district's business administrator Craig Lorentzen.

"He's making recommendations to increase revenues in accounts that we can't increase revenues," he said. "A lot of the cuts he's made are speculation and make assumptions on what we're going to spend through the rest of the year. He's looked at what we've spent through April 30. He's made his own estimation on what's going to be spent through the next two months."

After going through each of Marlow's proposed revenue increases and cuts, which included a $20,188 reduction in budgeting for new textbooks, a $21,990 cut in professional services, and $20,000 in support services, among others, Lorentzen said the district cannot actually cut these items.

Seven years ago computers were purchased, but they are aging and need replacing, the administration has said. To pay for new machines, $42,000 was budgeted for 2011-12, which Lorentzen said is $30,000 more than last year.

"It's something that we feel is necessary," he said. 

Lorentzen did agree that $7,500 could be cut from central service administration, but beyond that cuts either cannot be made or would be detrimental to education.

"We're already operating on a bare-bones budget," Lorentzen said. "From the $331,000 they're recommending, I'd be agreeable to $10,000. Unless they're telling me, 'don't buy textbooks, don't buy computers, and reduce instructional supplies.'"

Though Superintendent David Trethaway said that he appreciated Marlow's recommendation not to cut and programs or staff, those areas may affected if the township were to agree to his proposed amount of cuts.

"If this township committee agrees to this bottom line — these cuts — there will be cuts in program," he said. "They may not say there are cuts in programs, but if they ask me to cut something that I don't have any money in, if they ask me to violate the Lakehurst tuition contract, I can't do that. I'd have to find money somewhere else."

Lorentzen said that Marlow, who had only a few days to analyze the budget and make his recommendations, did not understand the needs of the township's school district.

"You've basically come in here and took two days to look at a budget," Lorentzen said. "I appreciate the job you have, but the bottom line is, you just don't know Manchester well enough to recommend these cuts."

Township president Craig Wallis closed the meeting by offering praise for teachers and the board of education, who he said has worked honestly in creating the budget. 

"There's not one of them up there that has not done that," he said. "They have been diligent."

Wallis also said that, amid do not support paying for others' children to have a quality education, everyone has a responsibility to the town where they live.

"This is the last year I will have someone in our school system," Wallis said, referring to his daughter who will graduate in June. "I have no problem next year with paying my school taxes. I don't mind paying for someone else's kids."

School board president Donald Webster and Wallis also agreed that they will attempt to meet with state legislators to see about having Manchester's school state aid, which amounts to about 10 percent of its budget, increased. The township's large senior population means that the district receives less than other surrounding districts.

Wallis said that the the town council has to consider what was presented at the meeting, and also thanked residents for their input during a public comment portion in which most commended the school district.

"I can't tell you what's going to happen," Wallis said.

The town council will make their budget decision known during a public vote Monday, May 16, at 6 p.m. at the Manchester Municipal Complex.