Every year, the Harding Township School District examines all expenditures and continues to employ fiscal responsibility. On January 16, 2009, Lucille Davy, Commissioner of Education released a memorandum asking all school districts to cut back further on all non-essential and discretionary funds “given the uncertainty of the magnitude and impact of a prolonged national recession on our state’s fiscal situation.” What happened to districts that adhered to her recommendation? They were penalized.
Expecting commendation, we received a negative consequence for our fiscal prudence. After receiving Commissioner Davy’s letter, I immediately informed all staff that the district would be employing these recommendations. Many of the district’s plans were postponed due to the memorandum. Unfortunately, we are losing state aid for implementing these suggestions. The message this decision sends is for school districts to spend frivolously prior to the conclusion of every school year, even if that means unwise spending. This completely defies the proper guidelines of entrepreneurship. “Nothing is being spent unless we clearly have to,” remarks Brian Javeline in Forbes Magazine’s How the Best Small Businesses Spend Money. A decrease in state aid will be equivalent to the amount in excess surplus. I am disappointed by the message that this sends moving forward in education. Although we may help the financial environment in the immediate future, the message has already been sent to spend all your funds to prevent penalization.
At the conclusion of last school year, the Board of Education was proud about the money saved in excess surplus. The Board of Education announced the savings on the school website and superintendent’s blog with many commendations from community members. “Please know that the Harding taxpayers are pleased with your fiscal prudence and hope you continue to embody such measures for the next school budget” was among the several anonymous comments. The former mayor commended the Board of Education and myself for our efforts on fiscal prudence and announced the savings at a township committee meeting. This is the response the district anticipated from the NJDOE as a result of following Commissioner Lucille Davy’s memorandum. But instead, we received a reduction in state aid. While extremely disheartening, the taxpayers in Harding can be assured that the district will continue to deliver the best education with utmost fiscal responsibility going forward.
6 comments:
Tough times call for tough measures. I see how school districts are feeling the financial pressures. I am disappointed that those districts that spent their entire excess surplus did not have to shoulder this burden! Sounds like you followed through with the recommendations, where some districts chose to ignore them and exhaust their resources. Now, they are not carrying the financial burden...
Interesting blog topic. Thanks for your willingness to discuss issues. I have heard great things about our district and its improvements. Keep up the great work.
The school/business analogy works here... Spending just to spend is not wise for any organization. You need to send this blog entry to the Ledger.
I'm looking forward to seeing your budget for the 10-11 school year. I understand why districts raise the budget to 4% every year, I am just hoping that you take the financial situation into consideration. Even a 3.7% would go a long way with our community. Thanks for your consideration.
Great discussion blog post. I don't remember the school asking for budget feedback in the past. I appreciate your efforts to keep an open mind to our concerns. I have read that many districts are cutting teaching positions and wondered if Harding would be cutting any positions. It would only seem inevitable. Thanks for the blog!!! I really appreciate how you involve everyone in the discussion process.
I am very pleased to see that you are keeping us up to date on this issue. I am very concerned about the consolidation of our school and have read in the past on this blog that we would be informed in March of 2010. Can you please update us on this issue?
Thank you for your feedback regarding the excess surplus and I appreciate your questions/concerns regarding the budget and consolidation of school districts.
Jim Minkewicz (School Business Administrator) and I met with the Vision Council tonight to discuss budget implications. The Vision Council has served as a sounding board regarding budget issues. This evening's session was extremely helpful! The Council assisted in the development process and truly gave us meaningful feedback that will enhance our presentation.
Our current proposal includes a local tax levy increase of 2.799%, which is the lowest in over TEN years! This is a $23 increase for a $1,000,000 home!!!! We are EXTREMELY excited to share this information with the town at Monday night's Board of Education meeting (3/8/10). Hopefully our taxpayers will demonstrate their support for such a low increase...
Regarding consolidation, our study group has tentatively scheduled to present at the 4/12/10 BOE meeting. I know that we originally intended to present the information in March and apologize for the delay. The study group had to use current information to guide their findings, thus taking longer than anticipated.
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