Administrators fine-tune school budget
Howell representatives scheduled to meet with new executive county supt.
BY TOYNETT HALL and MARK ROSMAN Staff Writers
The realities of new state regulations are leaving administrators in the Howell K-8 School District facing some difficult choices as they develop a budget for the 2008- 09 school year.

Howell Board of Education members and district administrators are dealing with limits imposed by the state on the amount of money the school district can raise in property taxes and with new oversight to be provided by an executive county superintendent.

Representatives of the Howell School District expect to meet with the executive county superintendent on Feb. 14 to present the district's financial plan for the coming school year.

In the 2007-08 school year the district is operating with a budget that totals $104.3 million. Of that amount, $67.6 million was raised in local property taxes. The district received $31.7 million in state aid, according to information provided by district officials.

Howell expects a 10 percent increase in state aid for the 2008-09 school year, for a total of $34.9 million. As explained by district officials, however, the additional state aid came with a string attached: a significantly smaller increase that is now permitted in the local tax levy compared with previous years.

A budget for the 2008-09 school year will be introduced by the board in the coming weeks. Residents will vote on the budget in the April school election.

The new school funding law has left administrators scrambling to come up with a budget that will continue to provide all of the programs the district's parents and children have come to expect.

One option currently being examined as a way to save in excess of $2 million is closing the Ardena School, a building that houses 340 pupils in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Because the Ardena School is the oldest of the district's 13 buildings, has the largest capital outlays and requires the most maintenance, "it makes the most sense on return on investment," said board member Louis Corato, who chairs the finance committee.

Closing the Ardena School would save the district about $2.4 million, according to school board officials. Board members noted last week that a final decision on the fate of the Ardena School has not been reached.

Corato acknowledged that if the Ardena School is closed, the pupils who attend that elementary school will have to be assigned to different schools.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg. If Ardena is closed, we will have to redistrict all of north Howell," he said.

News of the possible closing of the Ardena School has brought parents of children who attend the school out to recent board meetings to object to that option. The parents have questioned why administrators would close one school when in recent years they built three schools (the Adelphia and Greenville elementary schools and Howell Memorial Middle School).

According to Corato, there was a demographic study conducted during the 2000-01 school year. The study indicated that the Howell school district's enrollment by this time (2008) would be 8,000 pupils. He said a variety of circumstances has occurred and the district has in fact lost enrollment over the past few years. Howell's K-8 enrollment presently stands at about 7,090 pupils.

The three newest schools were built after the demographic study predicted there would be 8,000 students in the district by this time. The cost of the three schools was $42 million.

"Three schools were built, but we only paid for two. The state gave us $14 million. They bought one of the schools for us," Corato said.

If theArdena School is closed it will not be reopened. According to Assistant Superintendent/ Board Secretary Herbert Massa, "If Ardena is closed that property would go to the township. We turn all assets over to the township. They are better equipped to deal with building use."

In related news, Superintendent of Schools Enid Golden reported that according to the new funding formula approved by the state Legislature and signed by Gov. Jon Corzine, Howell has been labeled an inefficient district because it has been found to be spending above what the state now refers to as an adequacy level.

Golden said state officials have determined that a K-12 district is the most efficient model for a school district and that districts should move toward that model. It all makes for some uncertainty on the part of administrators in school districts that are not K-12.

She said the Howell public school district has been deemed inefficient because it is a K-8 district and because it offers extra (non-mandated) services such as courtesy busing and after-school programs. In addition, as a result of declining enrollment there is an inefficient use of facilities, according to the superintendent.

She said all those factors combined result in the state not giving Howell as much money as some other districts receive.

Another challenge the district faces may come from the new executive county superintendent. Carol Morris, the former superintendent of schools in Manasquan, isMonmouth County's state appointed executive county superintendent.

The executive county superintendent has the power to veto any item in the budget that she believes is unnecessary to adequately educate pupils. The executive county superintendent can eliminate anything within a school district's budget that is not mandated by the state, Golden explained.

During a PTAmeeting that was held at the Ardena School on Feb. 5, Golden told parents and teachers that a final decision regarding theArdena School had not been reached at that time. The parents asked administrators to examine the operating costs of all 13 schools before closing Ardena.

PTA President Nancy Donio told the administrators, "You need to weigh the quality of the education along with the cost effectiveness. We want transparency. You all must look at every school and every viable option."

The future of the Ardena School has not yet been brought before the full board. It is still being discussed in the finance committee. The school will be included in the 2008-09 budget that will be presented to the executive county superintendent on Feb. 14.

Administrators are waiting on the results from a demographic study being conducted by T&M Associates.

In related news, Golden said that by 2010 the state will require all school districts to begin phasing in all-day preschool programs to the at-risk population, which is children who are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

All-day kindergarten is not state mandated for Howell.

"We would like to have it, but it's costly and not required," Golden said. "Our demographer is currently looking at a feasibility study about this."

Corato and Golden encouraged everyone who cares about the Howell schools to register to vote and to vote in the annual school election, which is held inApril. The also suggested that residents contact their state legislators and express concerns about educational issues with them.