State Aid Increases for West Orange Schools

West Orange schools will see a bump in state aid for the 2012-13 school year, state officials announced Thursday.

The district is slated to receive a total of $6,809,707 in aid, a roughly 15 percent increase from last year's $5.8 million.

"It's absolutely good news," said Laura Lab, West Orange Board of Education President. She said the additional $916,170 in aid was "substantial" and a "game changer."

"We need to prioritize the upcoming budget to see what additional programs we can supplement that were cut two years ago, when we lost all the state aid," Lab said.

She added the district had outstanding concerns with their buildings and that the cash could also be used to offset needs in the schools.

School officials, though, remain deep in budget discussions and no final decisions on how to spend the money have been made.

A preliminary budget for each district must be filed with the county superintendent by March 5. A public hearing to describe the budget will take place at the end of March and until then residents are welcome to attend the board of education budget workshops.
 
The public will not vote on the school budget this year as long as the budget stays within the two percent cap property tax cap. when school officials voted to , thereby eliminating the public vote on the budget.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Anthony Cavanna was not immediately available for comment Thursday.