Lopatcong Township board of education and Bloomsbury board of education to enter into shared service agreement

LOPATCONG TWP. | The township board of education business administrator will share her talents with the Bloomsbury Board Of Education in an effort to cut costs in both districts.

Both boards voted Tuesday to approve the shared service agreement.

The boards of education for fellow Phillipsburg High School sending districts Alpha and Pohatcong Township have shared a businesses administrator for several years, Alpha board President Mike Jenkins said.

Bloomsbury board Vice President Karyn Frey said the board unanimously approved the agreement. The motion passed in Lopatcong Township, 7-2, with Andrew Horun and Ernie Gallant dissenting.

"Both districts want to make this financially viable," Lopatcong board President Terry Glennon said about the move.

Lopatcong Business Administrator Teresa Barna will handle board business for both districts. Bloomsbury will compensate for the services with a pro-rated annual fee of $64,400.

Because the agreement will only stretch from January to June, the fee will be $32,200, according to Lopatcong's finance Chairman Joe Kennedy. He said Barna's personal compensation for services will come out of that fee, but no figure has been negotiated.

Barna's base salary is $85,588. Barna has an infant at home, prompting the Lopatcong board to hire Paula Hatch to attend the board's meetings and prepare minutes for the remainder of the school year for $30 an hour.

Maria Hersch, Bloomsbury's interim business administrator since November, will sit in while Barna has evenings off for child care, Frey said.

The Bloomsbury board plans to consider a new meeting time so it does not conflict with Lopatcong Township after that point, allowing Barna to begin full duties with both boards next school year.

Kennedy and Frey said each district would save money, though how much was unavailable Wednesday.

Kennedy said the agreement must be reapproved before next school year.

Sharing board business services is a move encouraged by the state, said Warren County Superintendent Kevin Brennan. He called such strategies especially attractive to smaller districts.

"The bottom line is trying to enhance the fiscal efficiency of each local district," Brennan said.

Both Brennan and Hunterdon County Interim Superintendent Christine Harttraft have approved the agreement, board officials said.

Gallant, who opposed the move, said he is concerned about money and ensuring one staffer can handle the workload.

"I don't feel that it's going to save the district any money," he said. "I'm concerned about the manpower on our end."

Brennan called the concerns understandable but said the state guards against spreading district resources too thin.

"There are checks and balances in the system to make sure we're not just going down a road that leads to the quality of education degenerating," Brennan said.

---