Superintendent Scott Cascone discusses the 2021-2022 budget at the March 8 West Orange Board of Education meeting.
WEST ORANGE, NJ — The 2021-2022 school year budget was presented to the West Orange Board of Education at its meeting on Feb. 22, beginning the process of implementing the $177,823,032 budget. The tax levy will be increased by 1.5 percent, which means that, with state aid, the district will not have to make as many budget cuts as anticipated. At the March 8 BOE meeting, Superintendent Scott Cascone said WOSD will receive $5.7 million in total from the state.
“They were much better than we had thought,” he said at the March 8 meeting about state aid, which the district received word about after the Feb. 22 meeting. “Not only did the state restore the $1.5 million that we lost last year, but they held to their word in continuing the equalization aid payments, realizing a total of $5.7 million in state aid.”
Salaries are the largest expense in the budget, taking up 57.47 percent of expenditures at $102,191,592. Salaries is the line item with the highest increase in the budget as well; including training level changes and longevity, the district will be spending $3,933,669 more than last year on salaries.
Cascone said four special education teachers will be hired this year, in addition to the creation of a behaviorally disabled class at the middle school level for students aging up from the elementary school program.
“It also includes middle school interventionists, to address what we understand will be perhaps learning loss and gaps that have emerged over the course of the pandemic,” Cascone said about other salary increases. “There is one additional elementary teacher due to increased class size at Hazel School and an occupational therapist, which is currently being staffed by a third-party vendor.”
Benefits take up 15.62 percent of the total budget, at $27,776,307. Medical benefits will see an 11-percent increase, prescription benefits will increase by 14 percent and dental benefits will increase by 9 percent.
“These percentages are very preliminary,” business administrator Tonya Flowers said at the Feb. 22 meeting. “We are still in discussion with our broker to determine potential increases in cost for the district due to reduced employee contributions as a result of the new plan required by Chapter 44.”
Special education, including transportation, is the third most expensive line item in the 2021-2022 budget at $16,308,951. It will take up 9.17 percent of the total.
Other significant increases include general education transportation, which will increase by 26 percent for $1,021,225. The total general education transportation budget is $7,077,002. Out-of-district tuition will cost $493,460, an 8-percent increase from last year.
Even with these increases, Cascone said $3,101,998 was cut from the operating budget. It will mean that 18 staff positions will be eliminated. In addition, each line item in the budget was reduced by 20 percent.
Available banked cap that expires during the 2021-2022 budget is $3,438,571 from the 2018-2019 school year. An additional $1,220,517 from the 2019-2020 school year expires during the 2022-2023 budget.
According to the presentation, with a 1.5-percent tax increase, the district will receive $148,253,721 in tax revenue in the next budget cycle. The average annual increase would be $189.02, or $15.75 per month.
About the Author
