Superintendent: No Staff or Program Cuts if State Aid Stays the Same

Although Superintendent Geoffrey Zoeller said the Westwood Regional School District is facing another tough budget year with a mandated 2 percent property tax cap increase, he said if the district recieves the same amount in state aid for 2011-2012 as it did for the current school year, jobs and programs will go untouched.

"If there are no cuts and if the board adopts the budget with a 2 percent increase, we would not have to eleiminate any staff, we would not have to eliminate any programming, which is a remarkable accomplishment," Zoeller said. He added that staff members "made the tough decisions about what they wanted to recommend for purchase and what they were willing to forego."

Zoeller warned that cuts to staff and programs are still possible. "If state aid is cut, then all bets are off," he said. He added that if cuts had to be made, he would recommend ones that would impact children the least.

Zoeller said because of state aid cuts last year the district had to eliminate 12 full-time staff positions and 57 part-time stipended positions, actions he hopes to avoid this year. He said that state aid makes up less than 1 percent of the district budget.

Finance Committee Chair Darlene Mandeville said that with the 2 percent tax levy cap, the district budget would be able to increase by approximately $896,000. The budget for the current school year is about $49 million.

Last year the district received approximately $451,000 in state aid, according to Mandeville. "We're hoping that if it doesn't get better it at least stays the same," she said.

As for revenues, Mandeville said the district takes in about $12,000 per year in rental income, $25,000 annually for preschool tuition and $250,000 in interest on loans.

Right now, education officials said it's a waiting game because the state aid numbers haven't yet been released. Governor Christie is expected to give districts their aid numbers Thursday and then officials will start taking action.

The March Board of Education meetings have been rescheduled to accomodate the new timelines the state has set out. Meeting dates are now March 3, when the board is expected to adopt the preliminary budget, and March 24, which will be the public hearing for the budget. Voters will head to the polls April 27 to accept or deny the tax levy.

"I will ask the administration and this board to work cooperatively to do our best for you and for the children of this district no matter what may come," Zoeller said. "We're facing some difficult times again and we're going to do our best for you and for our kids."