January 14, 2008
Although this meeting was supposed to be the beginning of the budget process, there wasn't much information shared with the public. Basically, the Business Administrator distributed a draft budget to the Board members for their review and consideration, but that draft budget was not shared with the public and there weren't any questions/comments from the Board members because they hadn't had a chance to look at it yet. At the next meeting on 1/28, they will discuss the budget and the architect will also be discussing the new school building plans, which must be submitted to the state in March.
The following items were discussed last night:
1) Gov. Corzine's New School Funding Formula -- Although Denville has the lowest cost per pupil in the district, we only received the minimum 2% increase under the new formula because of our capital expenditures last year. The formula allows a certain dollar amount for capital improvements and we were way over that number (over a million dollars over the limit) because we had to redo the bathrooms at Valleyview, windows at Riverview, etc. Because we waited for so many years to do this work and then did it all in one year last year, we were penalized in the new school funding formula, which does not seem fair. Dr. Clark is looking into an appeal process.
2) New Budget -- Although we're limited to the 2% increase from the state and 4% tax increase per state regulations, we may be eligible for waivers, which allow you to go over the 4% cap if certain costs (insurance, energy, tuition, etc.) increase by more than 4% in one year. The Board is looking into what waivers we may be eligible for. The waivers do not guarantee that we get additional money, they merely allow us to ask for more than the 4% increase on the ballot in April. The town would still need to approve the increase. Dr. Clark noted that enrollment continues to increase for all schools. For example, Lakeview already has 14 new 1st graders registered for September (they expect about 20 more new registrations), and these new kids join an already overcrowded kindergarten class. The budget will be discussed further at the 1/28 meeting and there may be an additional budget meeting on 2/4 if necessary. The budget must be approved by the school board at their 2/11 meeting in order to be submitted to the state by 2/15.
3) In Our Schools This Year -- Dr. Clark discussed some of the programs happening in our schools this year. The Curriculum Committee is working to standardize the curriculum in town between the two schools. They're also reviewing the grants provided by the No Child Left Behind Act and determining exactly what can be done with the grant money. We're coming to the end of a 3-year initiative with our technology consultant, IDE, for grades 4 thru 8. They're looking into providing turnkey training to the teachers to allow them to teach other teachers and therefore rely less on the outside consultants. Some of our teachers are going to Rutgers for additional math training, and we're looking at software (about $1,100) for higher order thinking skills, especially in math. Still working on guided reading in the lower grades, and information was distributed to parents this year regarding their child's reading level. And more novels are being purchased for 4th and 5th grades and middle school.
4) Public Comments -- There was a huge contingent of Riverview 1st grade parents at the meeting last night asking for an additional 2nd grade teacher to be added for the 2008-2009 school year. The average number of students in a first grade class in our district is 19 and there are 25+ first graders per class in Riverview. Jennifer Siino also requested an additional 4th grade teacher for Lakeview next year for the same reason. There was also a discussion about allowing parents to choose to send (and drive) their children to the other elementary school in order to balance out the class sizes among the two schools. Howard Shaw, the new Town Council liaison expressed his disdain over the trailers at our schools. He said Denville had never been a community with trailers and he's bothered by the fact that we have trailers now.
5) Next Meeting -- The Board reminded everyone that the budget and new school plans will be discussed at the next meeting on January 29th at 7:30 pm at Riverview. Please try to attend this meeting!