Activities may be saved with 2nd question
Freehold Borough board will let voters decide fate of some programs
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

The deed was done. The die was cast as Freehold Borough Board of Education members made one of the toughest decisions they ever had to make in a 6-3 vote to adopt the 2007-08 school year budget following a public hearing on March 26.

The budget carries a tax levy of $7.4 million that residents will vote on in the April 17 school election.

Board members were not happy about having to say yes to this particular spending plan, according to board President Jim Keelan.

Voting to adopt the budget were Keelan, Annette Jordan, Ron Reich, Adam Reich, Victoria Mueller and Audrey Evans. Voting not to adopt the budget were board Vice President Stella Mayes, Andrew De Fonzo and Frank Gill.

The budget proposes an increase in the Freehold Borough K-8 school tax rate from 66.7 cents to 74.1 cents per $100 of assessed valuation. That means the owner of a home assessed at the borough average of $257,000 will pay $1,904 in local school taxes in 2007-08, up from $1,714 in the 2006-07 school year.

The budget cuts 12 positions, including a math supervisor, a fourth-grade teacher, a fifth-grade teacher, a guidance counselor and a librarian. The budget eliminates school-sponsored sports and extracurricular activities. It includes the addition of two first-grade teachers and a full-time and a part-time World Language teacher.

As they stared down the barrel of eliminating school sports teams and extracurricular activities, board members decided on March 26 to allow residents to vote on a second ballot question on April 17. The second question asks for $75,275 in wages and stipends to be used for school-sponsored athletics and extracurricular activities. This question also asks for the hiring of a residency officer to investigate residency issues, as needed, at a cost not to exceed $15,000 annually.

According to information provided by district officials, approval of the second question will result in a permanent increase in the district's tax levy. These proposed expenditures are in addition to those necessary to achieve the state's Core Curriculum Content Standards.

When it came time to adopt the budget, Ron Reich, who voted in favor of the spending plan, said, "I do this with a heavy heart."

Mueller said, "I have lost sleep struggling with this budget. Don't think this is not choking me to have to do this. I feel as if everything has been turned upside down inside me. I don't know where else to go. If we don't vote for this budget, [the state] will impose their decision on us and we could really be in trouble. This is close to everyone's heart. I don't know any other way to do this."

Mueller said she was planning to testify about school funding issues in Trenton on March 29.

Adam Reich said, "If we don't pass this budget we don't know what [state officials] will do. We know what we are asking for. Letting someone else do this is throwing out all the work that has been done in the schools and in the community. If we vote it down we are turning away from all the support the community has given us on this issue."

Jordan said, "I do not want to give any more control over to the state. What we need to do is continue to put pressure on our state legislators. No one wants to vote for this budget, but we are responsible to our kids and to the taxpayers. We will be failing both of them if we don't pass this budget."

Evans said it was breaking her heart to see what was happening with the budget.

"I know everyone wants to do what's right, but to vote no means we're divided. I want us to have a show of unity. It is with a heavy heart that I vote for it. I do not want someone to dictate to us what we have to do."

Despite Evans' plea for total agreement on the spending plan, Mayes, DeFonzo and Gill said they could not vote for a budget that will take things away from students and cost taxpayers more money. They said they understood how much work administrators put into developing the budget, but voted against its adoption.

"I am disappointed and I know some of you may disagree with me," De Fonzo said. "I understand all of the work that went into this budget but I cannot put my name on a budget that will not give our children what they deserve. I know you have worked miracles with what we've been given, but for me it's personal. I want to stick it to the state and say I'm not doing it anymore. I vote no for this budget."

As she prepared to cast her final budget vote, Mayes, who is leaving the board after several decades of service, said she was still reflecting on her decision.

"I must say that in the past we had referendums and we did pass them. Now we have more children and less money. Houses cost more, taxes cost more. Everyone I run into says they just cannot afford it anymore. I really feel that something has to be done with the school formula. I am still sitting on the fence, to be honest."

When it came time for the vote, Mayes left her post on the fence and voted no.

Gill said that in regard to having state education officials look at the budget, "They can't do much worse."

Keelan said if the board did not adopt the budget the district would be in for more problems, "all of them bad."

"At least adopting the budget shows it has our approval. It gives us some element of control," Keelan said. "It's better to support what we have and maintain control than to have our budget imposed upon us. The commissioner of education can make more cuts. She can also put everything back into the budget and then all of those items will be put onto the taxpayers."

Keelan said a decision such as that could quadruple the proposed tax increase for the 2007-08 school year.

The three board members who voted no held to their views about the funding issues and the budget vote was recorded as 6-3 in favor of adoption.

"This budget maintains the maximum tax levy allowed, presents a second question, cuts personnel and services and still maintains (state) mandates," Superintendent of Schools Liz O'Connell said, adding that, "we have had the first increase in state aid in six years," amounting to an increase of $797,000.

Administrators said the 12.7 percent increase in state aid was welcome, but was not enough to offset the hole the district has been in from flat state funding over the last five years.

Councilman Jaye Sims, who is the Borough Council's liaison to the school district, said he is a product of Freehold's public schools.

"Keep fighting and don't give up," Sims said. "It's all about the kids. Knock on doors, make phone calls and e-mail your legislators. Do not give up."