Increase is 1.5% in Board’s proposed budget

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The 2018-19 proposed Bloomfield school budget submitted to county authorities for approval will increase 1.5 percent over last year — and not the allowed 2 percent cap — while beefing up school security. The vote to send the budget to the county was approved 6-3. Dissenting were BOE members Daniel Anderson, Ruth Hidalgo and Michael McLaughlin. The total of the tentative budget is $107 million.

“Personally, I think we should have gone to the cap of 2 percent,” Anderson said in a telephone interview earlier this week. “On a $270,000 home, the savings by not going to the cap is $24 per home. It’s not worth what we’re giving up.
According to Joe Pisaro, the Bloomfield tax assessor, the average assessment for a Bloomfield home is $270,600.
Anderson, the BOE vice-president, said that 1/2 percentage point is $330,000 less for the school district to have.
“I feel personally hypocritical,” he said. “For years, I’d say we’re underfunded. Now we’re underfunding ourselves.”
More state money will be coming to the school district, he said, but not nearly what he believes is an adequate amount.
BOE President Jill Fischman said the budget is sound with a minimum tax increase.

“One of our main focuses, besides what’s good for the students in the classroom,” she said in a telephone interview earlier this week, “is security.”

Fischman said she wants to have security people at the front doors of each elementary school. The high school and the middle school already have them.

“I’m not exactly sure of the number of security people,” she said. “Possibly there will also be a floater. I’m not sure if they’ll be armed. Right now, it’s putting a body in place. Behind the scenes, we’re working on what can be sustained. We don’t want to put something in place and then find out we can’t sustain it.”

She said there are various options as to what personnel would provide this security, but they would have to be trained for a school environment.

Board member Ellen Rogers said although the vote was not unanimous she was pleased that the tentative budget passed.
“I had stated at the meeting that when I was campaigning, I spoke to many folks that felt that each small yearly increase would eventually bring them closer to a breaking point resulting in them having to move,” she said in an email.

While campaigning, Rogers said she was surprised to learn that many houses were being rented. She thought the owners still lived in them. But she said she this was often not the case.

“We will not be short changing our schools either,” she said of the 1.5 percent increase. “At the moment we are in good financial standings. This is also aided by Gov. Murphy’s recent release of funding to the public schools.”

According to the NJ Department of Education website, the Bloomfield school district will receive an additional $1.1 million for fiscal year 2019, a 5 percent increase over fiscal year 2018.

Rogers said after learning that homes were being rented, she felt a responsibility to help homeowners.
“People are concerned that you always take your 2 percent or you’re stuck,” she said. “We desired to throw some back to the taxpayers and that felt good.”

Fischman said the school district teaching staff will not be decreased and the inclusion program will be expanded. What this means is that two certified teachers will be added to classrooms to help the inclusion program. The principal, Fischman said, determines what classrooms will have the additional teachers.

The use of Chromebooks will also be expanded, Fischman said. Right now, students in grades seven through nine have them. The goal is to add grades 10 through 12.

Anderson said work on this budget has been going on since the fall.
“In terms of the district,” he said, “I’d like to see more project-based learning; more professional development; and more authentic academic assessments — for instance, portfolio assessments.’

Anderson acknowledged that what he would like is a big step. From its outset, Anderson has been opposed to the PARCC
standardized test.

“The new governor wants to move away from PARCC,” he said. “We are one of the few states that have exit exams for high school. Originally there was a high school proficiency exam and then PARCC. But it wasn’t designed to be a high school exit exam.”

Vicky Guo, the district business administrator, said the only approval the board gave in its vote was the total budget and the tax levy.

“The detail and breakdown will be advertised in the newspaper once it is approved by the DOE for advertising,” she said in an email ti the Independent Press. “The advertising will be on or before April 20 and there will be a public hearing on the budget on April 24.”