Jackson Adopts School Budget

Jackson School BOE
Photo by Micromedia Publications

  JACKSON – In a seven to two vote, the Township School Board voted to adopt its $150.6 million budget to fund the school district’s operation for the next academic year.

  The 2021-22 spending plan, which was introduced on March 17, will be supported in part by a tax levy of $97.5 million that will be collected from the township’s residential and commercial property owners.

  The average home in Jackson is assessed at $329,181 and the owner of that home will now pay about $4,640 in school taxes.

  Administrators said the 2021-22 school year will result in budget cuts in all departments and the elimination of all capital improvement projects, with the exception of an energy savings program.

  The school district’s total budget decreased by $2 million in the last two years but the local tax levy has risen by $1.71 million. The current year’s school tax rate is $1.39 per $100 of assessed valuation.

  The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 paid around $3,475 in school taxes while the owner of a home assessed at $325,000 paid about $4,520. Those who owned a home assessed at $400,000 paid approximately $5,560.

  Jackson’s school tax rate was projected to increase to $1.41 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of a home assessed at $250,000 will now pay about $3,525 in school taxes, the owner of a home assessed at $325,000 will pay about $4,580 and the owner of a home assessed at $400,000 will pay about $5,640.

Bracing For A Tough Year

  For months school board members and administrators have been bracing for what has been their worst year in state aid fund reduction. The school district will lose $4.23 million in state aid for the 2021-22 school year. It has lost $7.1 million in state aid over the last three years and will lose $19 million over seven years.

  Due to a state law known as S-2 that was took effect in 2018, state aid funding for Jackson’s 10 schools has continued to drop. Jackson’s enrollment has been declining steadily. The district’s enrollment in October 2017 stood at 8,203 students. That figure dropped in October 2018 to 8,096 students. The pupil count in October 2019 was 7,955 but by October 2020, enrollment was 7,651 students. The projected enrollment for October of this year is estimated at 7,647 students.

  Pormilli noted a rise in costs in other areas of the budget such as tuition for out-of-district student placements which are also rising.

  She said the school district has “the same number of out-of-district students now as we did in 2015 and the cost is $2 million more, and that is out of our control. We do not have control of those contracts and those prices going up.”

Dissenting Votes

  Following a public hearing the majority of the Board voted to adopt the spending plan. Board members Scott Sargent and Tzvi Herman voted against adopting the budget.

  Herman said he disagreed with School Superintendent Nicole Pormilli’s calling 2021 a perfect storm mixing significant cuts in state aid with other cuts causing the district to “squeeze our budget this year.”

  He noted Jackson was in the “eye of the storm” and that in 2022 the district will exhaust the elementary and secondary school emergency relief (ESSER) fund which it has received.

  Herman also said the Board was relying on ESSER money this year which is around $3.5 million and next year the district will have about 3,000 private school students, 600 of which would be bused which he calculated would cost about $2.4 million early in the school year.

  “We can’t cut teachers,” Herman said referencing the 37 positions that are being eliminated. “We can’t cut therapy. We can’t cut essential services we have to offer. Originally 40 positions were expected to be cut but through retirement, attrition and some reductions in force that total changed.

  While acknowledging how hard the administration worked to develop this year’s budget, Sargent said he felt there were areas that needed improvement. He also apologized to Pormilli having told her previously that he was originally planning to support the budget.

  Sargent said one of the areas he felt the administration needed to explore was transportation. He noted that the district has had difficulty “hiring the proper leadership for transportation.”

State Aid Funding Cuts Continue

  Prior S-2 funding hits included the loss of $48.77 million during the 2018-19 school year, while during the 2019-20 school year, state aid decreased to $46.47 million. Last year, Jackson received $42.99 million in state aid. Jackson will receive $38.75 million in state aid in the coming school year.

  Jackson’s loss in state aid has made it difficult to cope with other yearly issues in the budget such as contractual obligations; cost increases for items such as software licenses; gas prices; higher insurance premiums; tuition increases to send some students to out-of-district educational facilities; and district’s health plan changes.

  The reduction in state aid will continue through the 2024-25 school year.

  Superintendent Pormilli informed Board members that Jackson would be receiving COVID-related Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II funds known as ESSER II, which are being used to measure and effectively address learning loss caused by the pandemic.

  The ESSER II funding had minimal impact in compensating the S-2 state aid reduction and the school district’s increasing costs, according to administrators.

Budget Impacts

  Other impacts include larger class sizes; curriculum adoption will be reduced to what administrators described as bare minimum of updates needed to maintain programs.

  The majority of the school district’s tier 1 capital improvement projects were also sacrificed due to the tight budget. There was also a reduction in summer curriculum writing; reduced professional development; and school supply budgets.

  There was also an increase in participation fees for sports and extracurricular activities. Increases to participation fees were proposed last year but postponed due to the coronavirus health crisis.

  While this year’s budget maintains investments in curriculum and technology it does not allow them to make desired capital improvements or any major curricular advancements.