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Egg Harbor Towhship Home and School Association EHT's Education Resource Network
2/5/08
An itemized summary of probable expenditures and income for a given period, usually embodying a systematic plan for meeting expenses is the definition of a budget per the dictionary. No matter what words are used to describe a budget, it’s probably safe to say that they are a necessary evil and a headache to execute. Members of the Board of Education (BOE), and a few people from the public met on the 5th of February to continue the budget process for our school district. Preparations actually started months ago but were “kicked off” on Saturday, January 26th with the Principals and Administrators presenting their individual budgets to the BOE and members of the public. Each Principal or Administrator submitted what he or she felt was needed to run their department or school with the understanding that cuts would have to be made. For instance, The Press reported that the district proposes to hire 35 full time teachers and 27 activities advisors or athletic coaches but at the 2/5/08 meeting, it was agreed that those numbers needed to be cut. As with any budget that includes “everything”, expenses often are greater than income and decisions need to be made on what can be eliminated. Certain expenses are fixed and must come first in prioritizing your budget. These include for the district salaries, health benefits, social security taxes, pension contributions, insurances, utilities, fuel, legal, telephone, postage, trash removal, water/sewer, and the list goes on. Many of these costs are predicted to increase and must be paid, just as you must pay your expenses. Let’s say that, just like the school district, fixed costs take up 75-80% of your budget, leaving 20% to cover all other expenses. Now pretend that you have to pay tuition for your special needs child, have a child that excels in the performing arts while another’s talent is in Lacrosse, want to protect your house and grounds by keeping up with the maintenance, and have another child on the way. How do you choose where your dollars are going to be spent and who or what has a bigger priority? There are not any easy choices yet that’s what our BOE and administration face each budget as we’re not a wealthy district. Oh, and let’s just say your boss gave you a bonus this year even though there hasn’t been one for years nor a cost of living raise. You have been trying to meet your expenses on the same salary year after year while adding a child each year to your family. As we all know, the price of everything keeps rising, so by the time you take in to account the increases to your fixed cost, there isn’t much, if anything, left of your bonus. Out of the 6.5 million given to the district, 5.3 million is already reserved for fixed costs. The cost of educating a student has gone up 52% since the 97/98 school year according to The Press whose sources include the NJ Department of Education and the NJ Education Association. EHT still remains one of the lowest spending districts at $9,228 per pupil while locally the highest spending districts are Ocean City at $16,636 and Wildwood at $17,056. The new state school funding formula sets these amounts for the 08/09 school year: elementary student $9,649, middle school student $10,035, high school student $11,289 and a vocational student at $14,789. Note that our average spending per pupil is lower than the state’s educational cost for an elementary school student. The district’s budget is a work in progress with the approval of the final budget scheduled for the BOE meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2008 at 8 PM in the BOE room of the Alder Ave. Middle School. All budget meetings are open to the public with the next one scheduled for Tuesday, February 19 at 7 PM, again in the BOE room of the Alder Ave. Middle School.
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