Jefferson Ups School Taxes $122 in New Budget

The Jefferson Township Board of Education unanimously approved the school district’s budget for 2013014 during its Monday meeting, following a presentation by Business Administrator Dora Zeno and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Mary Thornton.

Of the budget’s $58 million total, $39,254,712 will come from taxes. Zeno explained that, using the assessed average home value rate of $286,606, the average tax increase per homeowner will be $122.15 for the year, $10.18 monthly and $.33 daily.

Although the district received no additional state aid this year, Zeno said the district has sustained all of its current programs. Additionally she said staffing is “almost a rollover,” with the only exception being two positions that were reduced at the central office.

“We’re doing our part to keep everything intact for the district,” Zeno said.

Thornton said some of the biggest expenses are the result of state mandates. Although the district usually revises its curriculum every five years, New Jersey’s adoption of the national Core Curriculum Content Standards has pushed the district’s timeframe forward.

As a result, the district needs to budget funds for additional professional development and materials to help meet the standards’ core requirements.

A number of new courses are being added to the curriculum end of the budget this year, including a financial literacy class and advanced placement (AP) studio art at the high school. The latter will add to the 15 AP courses currently offered at the high school, which garnered an 85 percent passing rate in 2012.

The district is adding a third year of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at the middle school level, additional music electives, honors level courses in French and Spanish and a third year of American Sign Language (ASL).

“[ASL] is very, very popular with our students,” Thornton said. “The course is always fully subscribed with a waiting list.”

The district also needs to revise its teacher and administration evaluation systems – using one of four state-offered models – that involve the purchase of software and training materials.

“It was a big expense to bite off this year and will continue to be in the future, although we’ve dealt with the initial costs,” Thornton said. “This is a mandated program with many strengths if implemented properly, but it is a big change.”

Thornton said the district will also continue to upgrade its technology for student use, including laptops, different software technology and incorporating iPads into certain courses.

“In 1999, there was a big push to have desktops in the district,” Zeno said. “In a short period of time, we now have interactive whiteboards, voice over IP telephones, iPads, iPhones and smart phones. We’ve had to upgrade a lot of our hardware, software, servers and bandwidth.”

On the security front, Zeno said the district looks to install electronic proximity cards at the schools and replace fire alarms at Arthur Stanlick Elementary School and Ellen T. Briggs Elementary School.

“We’re trying to limit access to the buildings,” Zeno said. “We can never keep it 100 percent secure, but we’re moving in the direction of making sure we have limited access, particularly during the day.”

Zeno said the district also aims to replace all of the windows at the Briggs School and one wing of the high school, as well as replace six school buses and one maintenance vehicle.

This is the second year the school budget has not gone to the public for approval after the board chose in early 2012 to move elections to November and approve the budget without a public vote. The option is only available when state districts don’t exceed a tax levy increase of 2 percent.