Tax Increase Proposed In Westfield School Budget For 2024-25

WESTFIELD, NJ — A tax increase is being proposed as part of Westfield's proposed school budget for 2024-25.

Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gonzalez and Business Administrator Patricia Ramos presented the preliminary budget at the Westfield Board of Education's March 5 meeting.

The roughly $133 million budget will be broken into two votes. On March 26 the Board of Education will be voting on the $131,545,336 base budget which includes a 2.62 tax levy increase.

The Board is also proposing a .59 percent increase in Educational Continuity and .9 percent increase for Enhancements to the 2024-25 budget. This Additional Spending Proposal of $1,675,397 will bring the entire budget total to $133,220,733 and go before a vote to taxpayers on April 16.

If both portions pass, an average homeowner in Westfield with a home assessed at $821,000 would see a tax increase of $347 per year.

Gonzalez explained that the Educational Continuity and Enhancements to the 2024-25 budget are the result of a survey to parents, students, and staff who outlined their priorities which included hiring and maintain teachers, facility improvements, and more.

"Unfortunately, we can’t do everything at one time. We can’t afford to hire as many teachers as we'd like, engage in, and increase as many programs as we’d like because in some cases we just don't have the space and the capacity to do so," said Gonzalez. "But what the feedback does is it allows us to gather that feedback, that prioritization, to help inform both this work and then future work."

Gonzalez also noted that separate from the budget vote, the district is looking toward moving forward "with a facilities referendum in order to take that facilities priority and address it in a very substantive way."

Base Budget

The base budget includes a 2.62 percent increase which is higher than the 2 percent tax levy due to increases in the state health benefits plan.

The budget also includes:

• Maintaining all current programming
• Providing funding for curriculum writing and professional development, along with curriculum management software to increase ease of navigation for the community in accessing district curriculum documents
• Upgrade technology and technology education equipment/offerings
• Begin replacing classroom furniture
• Fund instructional media center materials
• Introduce Staff Wellness Program
• Add staff to create two new Special Education in-district programs

Educational Continuity

This portion includes the retention of seven current staff members whose position would otherwise be cut as they are not able to be included in the base budget cap.

The teachers include:

• 3 elementary teachers
• 2 intermediate teachers
• 2 high school teachers.

"Unfortunately everything that we need to educate students - consistent with the work that we started this year, consistent with the level of the programming, consistent with the course guidelines and the enrollment guidelines and class sizes. In order to do all of the above unfortunately it does not all fit in a 2.62 base budget," said Gonzalez.

This portion would raise taxes .59 percent.

"The .59 percent represents our ability to continue to offer our class sizes, programs, and activities to our students consistent to what we are doing today while also building upon the experiences that have taken place over the course of the year," said Gonzalez.

Budget Enhancements

Based on survey results and the district's strategic plan, the enhancements touch on all levels of school.

K-5 Enrichment

• Implement K-5 enrichment for all students targeting computer science and design thinking standards through fine motor development
• Provide Tier 2 model of enrichment program at each elementary school for students in Grades 3 - 5 who have demonstrated a need for additional enrichment services
• Adding three elementary enrichment teachers to be divided between the six schools and one early childhood learning center

Intermediate and High School Enrichment

• Provide professional learning and begin program planning for development of redesigned gifted/enrichment courses at both intermediate schools.
• Write curriculum and implement new elective courses in areas of business education, consumer education, computer science, and technology education
• Implement courses in high school Robotics, Food & Nutrition Science, and Home Systems Technology
• Add one science High School Teacher to teach new electives

Other Additions

• Add a Supervisor to help administration and teachers with existing and expanding programs
• Enhance compensation for paraprofessionals
• Add Assistant Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds, along with two additional groundskeepers/maintenance staff
• Add 3 part-time School Safety and Security personnel

"The .9 percent represents again another opportunity for us to build upon the work of our school district, align it to our strategic plan, keep us moving forward so that we can not find ourselves just stagnant but growing as a school district and investing in our schools," said Gonzalez.

The next step is for the BOE to vote on the base budget at the March 26 meeting. The Additional Spending Proposal will then go for a taxpayer vote on April 16.

If the proposal doesn't pass, "all personnel and programs in the proposal will be cut from the budget with no ability to reallocate for the 2024-2025 academic year."

Watch the full budget presentation here.

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