Budget, Recognitions Highlight Month In Moorestown School District

MOORESTOWN, NJ — With spring recess complete, we are now in the final stretch before summer break! The Moorestown Board of Education was busy this month, adopting the 2017-18 budget, recognizing students and approving a new human resources director, among other updates.

At the April 25 meeting, the board passed 2017-18 budget. The budget sustains and expands our curriculum and extracurricular offerings. The net impact on the taxpayer will be about a 1.9% increase after debt service is factored in. This amounts to a $102 increase for the average assessed home of $534,100.

Maintaining existing programs and staffing into the next school year alone would have increased the budget beyond the allowable 2% tax levy due in part to increases in salaries and benefits, which equal 81% of the budget.

As a result, the board and administration had to limit new expenditure requests and look for ways to fund the budget outside of taxes and the minimal state aid received.

One way was raising about $772,000 through revenue generation, including facility rental agreements, the Academy of Excellence, and before/after school care, among other programs.

For complete details, the board’s message on the preliminary budget, which is very similar to the final budget adopted, can be seen here.

The board also recognized a variety of students for academic and athletic achievement. The high school’s unified basketball team was recognized for winning the Shriver Cup for Division One. Participants in the Coriell Science Fair and the Delaware Valley Regional Science Fair were also recognized, as were five staff members who are retiring this year.

Also, the board renewed its Food Service Management contract with Nutri-Serve for the 2017-18 school year, and Debora Belfield was approved to be the district's new human resources director as of July 1. She replaces current Director Gail Reicheg, who is retiring in June.

The president of the Moorestown Education Foundation (MEF) made a presentation. The MEF provides two types of grants to fund innovative programs and initiatives in the district, including “mini-grants” and general grants. The MEF expressed that they need ideas for general grants from the district.

The grants provide seed funding for larger district programs of up to $50,000 per year. Past grants include the Academy of Excellence, funding for the Robotics Team, and funding for student presentations at NASA. Additional information can be found here.

Save the date for the Moorestown High School Interact Club’s annual Acapella for Autism on Saturday, April 29 at Moorestown High School, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. This event brings acapella groups from around the area together to compete and raise money for Autism New Jersey.

The next monthly meeting of the Moorestown Board of Education is May 16, 2017, 7 p.m. in the William Allen Middle School Media Center. As always, do not hesitate to contact the Board or myself if you need anything in the meantime.

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The views and content in this column do not necessarily represent those of the Moorestown Board of Education as a whole or any other individual member.

About this column: In this column, Moorestown Board of Education Member Brandon Pugh provides monthly updates on what's going on in the school district and on the BOE.