Greenwich Township School District proposes budget that would cut 18 staff, instrumental music program

Sunday, April 04, 2010
By SARAH M. WOJCIK
The Express-Times

GREENWICH TWP. | The casualties of a $1.3 million budget deficit in the Greenwich Township School District include 18 staff cuts and several transportation and program reductions, including the elimination of the instrumental music program.

The deficit, born out of state aid losses from this year and the next, also will necessitate a tax hike of about 13.8 cents per $100 of assessed value. The average township home valued at $270,500 would see a school tax increase of about $373 next year.

The $12.7 million budget approved by the school board during a special Saturday meeting would have to undergo even more painful changes if the public votes it down during the April 20 election, according to school officials.

"This is the best case scenario," Superintendent Maria Eppolite said. If the budget fails "it could mean cutting additional programs and staff."

A defeated budget would be subject to the monetary changes dictated by the Greenwich Township Committee.

On the chopping block in the 2010-11 school budget are nine teaching positions, two of which will be lost through retirements, six paraprofessionals, two secretaries and the township's supervisor of buildings, grounds and transportation.

Eppolite will take over the supervisor's duties.

Two other full-time teaching jobs will become part-time under the proposed budget.

The instrumental music program will be cut and one of the five sections of kindergarten will be reduced, raising the average class size from 16 students to 23 students. Eppolite said paraprofessionals will be placed in each room to assist with the additional volume.

Spanish instructors will teach seventh and eighth grades, a new math program for the middle school will be postponed and the district will no longer fund transportation for field trips.

Courtesy busing also will be cut so that only students who live 2 miles or more from Greenwich Elementary School and 2.5 miles or more from Stewartsville Middle School will be bused.

The expansion of technology initiatives in the district, something Eppolite touted last year, will also be put on hold, she said.

In the meantime, the district is working hard to find alternate sources of revenue, Eppolite said.

Tuition-based daycare programs are being offered for preschool and kindergarten students who spend a half day at the school as well as before- and after-school programs, summer programs and an integrated preschool class.

Angelo Faillace, a township resident who is seeking a spot on the school board, asked why the board and administration are not demanding teacher pay freezes during such a tight budget season. Eppolite explained that neither she nor the board have the power to make such a demand.

"I cannot unilaterally do that," she said. "It's a negotiation process."

Eppolite said she was not aware of any union meeting planned between Saturday and Monday's state imposed deadline for salary freezes.

Faillace said he hoped teachers would "come to bat for the community when push comes to shove."

"If we can save one or two positions and cut down on the increase of students in some of these classrooms I think the other teachers would rally around that," Faillace said.

IF IT FAILS

If the 2010-11 school budget is voted down April 20, Greenwich Township government officials will scour the document for additional savings.

Superintendent Maria Eppolite has divided additional budget cuts into three tiers outlining what would be next to go if the budget is defeated.

TIER I: The elimination of art, music and world language classes.

TIER II: Deeper classroom teacher cuts.

TIER III: Elimination of the district's entire kindergarten program.