School
districts fear the worst from new state budget
limits
Wednesday, September 29, 2004 • BY DUNSTAN
McNICHOL • Star-Ledger Staff
In Clinton Township, school officials are worried about
the prospect of students walking along busy highways like
Route 31 or Route 22.
At Hunterdon Central Regional High, a $30 million
expansion and renovation project has been jeopardized. In
Englewood Cliffs, a principal and a supervisor of special
services were cut.
And officials in Netcong warned that deep cuts "will
mean that the commissioner will have to run the district
himself."
Those are among the dire consequences that scores of New
Jersey school districts reported when asked about the
effects of a state law that imposed tight spending controls
starting July 1. The New Jersey School Boards Association
released the school district survey at a Statehouse news
conference yesterday in the opening salvo of a campaign to
repeal the cost-control measure.
Lawmakers crafted and adopted the law in less than two
weeks in June, with just one public hearing, at the same
time they enacted an increase in income taxes on the state's
wealthiest residents to fatten property tax rebate checks.
By reducing the discretion local officials have to increase
spending on schools and municipal government, the law is
intended to slow the rise of property taxes.
James J. Dougherty, president of the School Boards
Association and a board member in Lindenwold, compared the
impact of the new legislation to the effects of California's
Proposition 13, a sweeping initiative that made it almost
impossible for local governments to raise tax rates.
"This law, if it's not repealed, could do against New
Jersey what Proposition 13 did in California. It's that
serious," he said.
The law cuts the amount of surplus funds that school
districts can keep on hand, reduces allowed annual budget
growth from 3 percent to 2.5 percent and restricts the
ability of school officials to get exemptions from the
budget limits and to move money within their budgets.
Ron Rice, a spokesman for state Education Commissioner
William Librera, said it is too early for school officials
to have an accurate handle on the effects of the law. He
said Librera is crafting regulations to help schools manage
under the new rules, and hopes to help communities identify
"inefficiencies" so they can meet the new spending
restrictions.
"They can debate the merits of it," said Rice. "We're
trying to make this work for the districts, working hand in
hand."
Rice said the provision requiring school boards to cut
this year's budgeted surplus to 3 percent prompted the
transfer of $60 million from school accounts to municipal
coffers, where the money offset property tax levies.
But scores of school officials quoted in the School
Boards Association survey said the reduction in surplus has
left them vulnerable to cash shortfalls in the event of
unanticipated expenses like emergency repairs or the arrival
of students with special education needs.
The School Boards Association sent surveys to most of
the state's 618 school districts. They received responses
from 174. Of those that responded, about two-thirds said the
new law would have a "serious impact" on operations and
school programs.
A particular area of concern was the state's reduction
in allowable increases in "courtesy" transportation costs
for students who live less than two miles from their
schools.
"Every child receiving courtesy busing is on a dangerous
route -- either I-78, Route 31, Route 22 or county roads,"
said the survey returned from Clinton Township in Hunterdon
County. "It will be deadly."
Copyright 2004 The
Star-Ledger. Used with permission.
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