Freehold Twp. proposes $64.2M school budget
Residents may comment on plan during public hearing on March 27
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - The Freehold Township K-8 Board of Education has introduced a $64.2 million budget for the 2007-08 school year. The new budget is up 4.6 percent from 2006-07.

The proposed budget is under review by the Monmouth County superintendent of schools, which is the local representative of the state Department of Education.

A public hearing on the 2007-08 budget has been scheduled for 8 p.m. March 27 in the board's conference room at the Early Childhood Learning Center, Stillwells Corner Road. Residents may comment on the spending plan at that time.

Superintendent of Schools William Setaro and Business Administrator Sean Boyce presented the budget to the public and to the board at a March 13 meeting. Following the presentation the board members voted 8-0 to introduce the budget.

The $64.2 million budget is made up of three components: the general fund ($59.9 million), the special revenue fund (federal No Child Left Behind funding, $983,000) and the debt service fund ($3.3 million).

In the April 17 school election, residents will vote on a local tax levy of $52.2 million to support the general fund. The debt service tax levy of $3.2 million will not be voted on by residents. Debt service is the payment on bonds from past construction referendums. All told, Freehold Township residents will be asked to pay $55.5 million in local property taxes to support the 2007-08 school budget.

According to figures presented at the March 13 meeting, the K-8 tax rate to support the budget will rise 6.8 cents per $100 of assessed valuation in 2007-08, from $1.723 to $1.791 per $100.

The projected increase in the tax rate means that the owner of a home assessed at the township average of $200,000 will pay $3,582 in K-8 school taxes in the 2007-08 school year, up from $3,446 in 2006-07. The owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay $7,164 in K-8 school taxes in the 2007-08 school year, up from $6,892 in 2006-07. The owner of a home assessed at $600,000 will pay $10,746 in K-8 school taxes in the 2007-08 school year, up from $10,338 in 2006-07.

Setaro said three district priorities are followed when preparing the school budget: student achievement, strategic planning and fiscal responsibility. He said Freehold Township students are exceeding the state average on standardized testing and exceeding the average in the District Factor Group, which is the state's classification of school districts that are similar to Freehold Township in terms of socioeconomic indicators.

According to information provided by Setaro, the budget adds three staff members in World Language; new World Language texts in the middle schools; World Language instruction in K-3; LCD projectors to be installed in some classrooms at every school in the district (excluding the West Freehold School, which was built with the LCD projectors in each classroom); a self-contained special education program which will allow some Freehold Township special education pupils who are sent out-of-district for instruction to be educated in the district; a special education supervisor; and it maintains the current busing system and all existing instructional times.

One of the biggest items driving the overall 4.6 percent increase in the new budget is an 11 percent increase in employee benefits for 2007-08, according to Boyce.

He said the budget as presented will allow the district to use $1.4 million to create a capital reserve account, a maintenance reserve account and an emergency reserve account.

"We believe this is a responsible, sustainable budget," Boyce said.

The state will pay 9 percent of the 2007-08 budget. As a means of comparison, Boyce said that 10 years ago, in 1997-98, the state paid 17 percent of the school district's budget. The difference between state aid then and now is made up by what property owners pay in local taxes, he noted.

Board President Mindy Wille thanked the administration for its work in preparing the budget. She asked residents to support the budget on April 17.

District administrators are presenting the budget to residents this week in a series of meetings in the schools.

The only question from a member of the public regarding the budget was from a resident who asked if anything had been cut from the spending plan.

Setaro said administrators cut some costs in mailings and in publications and would try to move more information to the district's Internet Web site. He said cuts were made in some of the items that administrators initially sought to include in the 2007-08 budget.

The district has a current enrollment of 4,648 pupils.

In other news at the March 13 meeting, the board accepted the retirements of Rita Roessner, a Spanish teacher who has taught in Freehold Township for 39 years, and Jane Grohowski, a secretary in the Applegate school who has worked in the district for 25 years. Their retirements will be effective on July 1.

Three teachers have resigned from the district, effective June 30. They are Kirsten Gershon, a teacher of the handicapped at the West Freehold School; Laura Zazzali, language arts teacher at the Barkalow Middle School; and Lisa Taylor, a teacher at the West Freehold School.