Residents seeking details on budget, school closing
Howell administrators say they are waiting for answers on waivers
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL- Residents and people who do not want to see the Ardena School closed came before the Board of Education on March 5 looking for answers.

They have two basic questions: How will the district's 2008-09 school year budget affect taxpayers? and Is the board planning to close one of the district's 13 schools?

Administrators and board members had no answers for the public other than to say they have yet to discuss these issues fully as a board.

The possibility of closing the Ardena School was discussed at the committee level, but has not been discussed by the entire nine-member board.

As to the impact of the budget on taxpayers, district administrators said they are waiting for Monmouth County Executive County Superintendent Carole Morris to let them know if certain financial waivers that have been requested for 2008-09 will be granted.

Because they had not received an answer on the waiver requests from Morris as of March 7, the administrators said they have not adopted a tentative budget for the 2008-09 school year.

School districts that did not request waivers from the county superintendent have introduced a tentative budget for the 2008-09 school year. Residents will be asked to vote on a tax levy to support the budget in the April 15 school election.

During the public portion of the board's March 5 meeting, Peter McCarron, a resident and member of the board's finance committee, expressed his displeasure with the board in regard to the budget.

"In reality, all the waivers are is just an absolution from the state to allow you to raise taxes over and above the 4 percent (limit)," he said, "I am disappointed that the direction you are taking is waiting to see how much (you can) hit the taxpayer for; (to see) how much money (you can) actually get, as opposed to taking the position of the taxpayer. You have got to try and give some relief. The people are screaming for some relief. They need some help."

McCarron said the Township Council is also proposing an increase in taxes.

The council has not yet introduced a budget for 2008.

"We're getting a double whammy this year because if you guys get your waivers and our taxes go up, our friends in town hall are proposing a 9.5 percent increase in their tax levy.We just can't afford it.We have got to do something," McCarron told the school board.

According toAssistant Board Secretary Ron Sanasac, district administrators submitted a 2008-09 budget that includes all 13 schools, along with the waiver requests, on Feb. 15. He said administrators will wait until they hear fromMorris. No information about the board's proposed budget for the coming school year has been made public.

In the meantime, there has been a facilities committee meeting scheduled. During that meeting, the results from a demographer's report will be revealed to the public.

Resident Howard Dunbar, a former financial analyst, said he conducted his own research and concluded that closing the Howell Memorial Middle School instead of the Ardena School would yield the district more savings.

Dunbar, who submitted his analysis to Assistant Superintendent HerbertMassa, board member Louis Corato, who chairs the finance committee, and Sanasac, claims that "closing Howell Memorial Middle School would save approximately $3,500,000 annually while closing the Ardena School will save only $2,400,000 annually."

Dunbar's analysis indicates that "middle school enrollment is projected to decline by 161 students over the next five years in all seven schedules. There is little guesswork in projecting future middle school enrollments, which means there should not be any major surprises over the next five years regarding the 161 student decline projection.

"Should first grade student enrollment unexpectedly increase or decrease over the next three years, it will take up to an additional five years before the new trend starts impacting middle school enrollment and another two years before the new trend fully impacts middle school enrollment," he wrote.

Dunbar concluded that grades one through five at the elementary school level have a greater chance of being filled, especially if new development occurs, and that if there is an increase or decrease of enrollment at this level, there would be more of an impact than at the middle school level, where there are only three grades.

New development would have more of an impact on grades one through five than six through eight. In other words, he states, it would make more sense to keep an elementary school open to absorb any potential impact than it would to close an elementary school.

The most important factor Dunbar highlighted was the impact on the average class size and how that would be affected if the Ardena School or any other elementary school was closed vs. closing a middle school.

"It's easy to say let's close the oldest school, Ardena. "However, when future average class size statistics and annual cost saving calculations clearly indicate that closing the Howell Memorial Middle School is a better option than closing the Ardena School (from both an educational learning and economic perspective), then you need to choose that option over a cliché statement," he wrote.

Sanasac said school officials have received Dunbar's analysis and said it has been forwarded to T&MAssociates, which is studying the district's demographics, for comparison.