Budget Cuts will be Explained Thursday
Officials will give a 'complete breakdown' of budget reductions.
Photos
Wayne School District officials will give a detailed presentation Thursday night on the more than $1.7 million they have been forced to cut from the district's 2011-2012 budget.
A "complete breakdown of the specific cuts" will be given, board of education President Donald Pavlak Jr. said.
Copies of the presentation will be made available to attendees. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m.. It will be held in the council chamber at 475 Valley Road.
Residents rejected the district's $126.6 million tax levy by approximately 100 votes in late April. Per state law, the township council reviewed the district's budget and suggested the cuts. However, they did not have to suggest any cuts. Hundreds of residents attended the council meeting when the cuts were announced.
Approximately $360,000 will be saved through breakage from veteran teachers retiring and incoming teachers being hired. Breakage is the salary difference between a veteran teacher and a new teacher. The amount is in addition to $610,000 the district will already be saving in breakage for the upcoming year.
Approximately $405,000 will be saved through reductions in transportation, facilities and technology equipment and $400,000 in health and prescription benefits for district employees. The district will purchase buses, and other vehicles, and computer equipment with money borrowed from the Passaic County Improvement Authority rather than lease the vehicles. The district will save $405,000 by doing it that way.
The district will also cut $110,000 from the high school budgets, $100,000 in both new textbooks and from the building services and maintenance budget.
Approximately $150,000 will be slashed from the new Math Connects program for kindergarten through fifth graders. The cut will not affect the start of that program, which will be implemented in September. The program is replacing the Everyday Math program.
An additional $125,000, $65,000 in “general administration” salaries and saving $60,000 on a new middle school math teacher, will be cut. The teacher’s salary will be funded through the No Child Left Behind Act rather than the budget.
Bobtwo
7:31 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
A 1.7 million does not seem like much of a cut when you consider a 126 million plus budget. Once again the council neglects to do itsduty in favor of votes.
Al Scala
11:25 am on Thursday, June 9, 2011
I hope the board votes on ALL agenda items.....list of various personnel in district has been on agenda several times already, and still has not been acted on.......people know why....be "transparent" and adddress the issues you have with it once and for all......
Pad
2:17 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Yes, These cuts are very superficial when you realize the asking budget was already inflated to cover the budget from being defeated. They are tenuring over 30 teachers in September. How many actually retired? Any administrative positions cut? Believe me its all smoke & mirrors when it comes to this BOE. The Mayor & council should have insisted on deeper cuts. Again the taxpayers wishes are being ignored.
CKapple
5:03 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Pad, I realize that the voices of Wayne voters matter, but you shouldn't have moved to Wayne if you wanted to pay more taxes for the school system. Wayne is known for it's excellent school district, and many people mover here so that that their children can go through Wayne's school system. If you do not want to pay more taxes, move to Delaware, where taxes are low, and the school systems are bad!
Bobtwo
5:20 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
CKAPPLE, Many of us moved to Wayne before things got out of control. Now we are stuck here. If you think it is such a good deal I would suggest that you pick up the tab for those of us that don't think that the method of taxing for education is fair. It is always nice to live off of the backs of others.
CKapple
7:18 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Bob, I do not know if you have children in the system, but the cuts have gotten really bad over the last few. years. Clubs have been cut, and class size has increased. Although it would be great to not pay an education tax, that is the way it works unfortunately. I do not think Wayne voters realized the depth of these cuts. If you had to pay a couple extra hundred dollars for taxes, can't you give up some things? These economic times are tough on all of us, and we need to have the courage sometimes to dig deeper in our pockets and acknowledge the right thing to do.
Bobtwo
8:21 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
CKapple, sure things have gotten bad. Bad for all of us except those that are employed by the school system. As a senior citizen I have seen my taxes go up and my income go down. Sure, I am willing to make sacrifices but others must make sacrifices also. Why is it, in these hard times, that teachers get increases, why don’t they contribute more to their hospitalization and pensions? I don’t know about you but I paid my own hospitalization and funded my own pension and did not cry about it. I am tired of hearing the complainers crying while they cry with a loaf of bread under each arm, as the old saying goes. I think that we have given up quit a bit now it is their turn to give something up. You speak about the right thing; well the right thing is to cut the fat out of the budget. Cut those benefits and if you feel that is too drastic cut the high salaries of the administrators and get rid of the duplication. Principals, assistant principals and more assistant principals. You claim that you can’t hire a superintendent for 175K, let’s not kid each other, there are many qualified people that would be willing to take the job. Don’t tell me that you can’t hire from within. I am tired of the lies and the complaining. I am tired of the public being misled. And again I say if you are willing to fund the system with your money do it but I am getting tire of it. In theory they work for the tax payers but the employees seem to living better than the employer.
Joe videodummy
10:22 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Having 9 periods in high-school is not excellent. It does nothing to prepare the students for college. Prepared would be class for 90 minutes every other day for major subjects ( Math, Science, History, English ). Phys.Ed is not a major subject to a student playing a high-school sport, or 2 or 3- it's time that could be spent studying or seeking extra help.
Individual sports dinners are nothing but Rah Rah get togethers. Most dinners don't include the principal, vice principal, athletic trainer, or any of the people behind the scenes that put the sporting events together. Students playing one sport have no idea how many of another sports students made the honor roll, or anything about the other achievements they may have. Wayne handles their program sport by sport instead of having all the athletes together in one place.
The same goes for the booster clubs- they are geared for the individual sport. It should be one price and the money going into the schools general sports fund.
Student parking should be included in the budget. Young drivers have made great strides in the states priviledge to drive over the past few years. They are jumping through hoops to get their license- so why are we charging them fees to park ?
Pay-to-play is a rip off and every parent, teacher, administrator, elected offical, and state employee knows it. Without the participation of the student athlete, the school wouldn't have a sports program.
the dude
10:25 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
I thought that the school budget was increased. The public defeated the proposed budget, but even after the council's reductions, next year's budget is still larger than this year's. So what is all this talk about "cuts"? School spending will increase once again, and the BOE is raising our taxes to cover the increase.
Bobtwo
11:48 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
My sentiments.
Joe videodummy
10:45 pm on Thursday, June 9, 2011
Students staying after school to participate in sports programs, the band, theater, student council, and all honor roll students are the pride of any high-school. Having a student athlete that has a 3.5 GPA ( and higher) is the mark of excellence. Having to meet a minimum GPA to be able to compete in after-school activities is what prepares the student for the next level. Having students that successfully complete all of the drivers education requirements shouldn't be exploited with additional fees.
Our school system is saturated with administrators, assistants, and exuberent costs for people all lining up to take credit for the accomplishments of the students that have accomplished many of these goals outside of the public school system.
These same administrators know nothing about having the students register for NCAA eligibility, or how to guide them through sport "showcases", or how and when to contact colleges, or how to stay in contact with colleges that the student has an interest in attending.
So before anyone says: Wayne has an excellent school system- it depends on what you think is excellent, and what is actually over inflated, over managed and under-led.