Average homeowner to pay $80 more; full-day kindergarten is included
LINWOOD — Superintendent Brian Pruitt said during a budget presentation last week that Linwood School District will offer full-day kindergarten starting in September.
“We are excited and have a lot of work to do,” Pruitt said, noting the move is part of the district’s strategic plan and something the community has indicated it wants.
“Kindergarten is important and we’ve been talking about it for years,” Pruitt said. “We are continuing to align our budget to our strategic plan. With the pandemic, everything has been a little different and a little more challenging, but we have welcomed feedback on the strategic plan and communication throughout the year on what we can offer for students to continue to provide an exceptional school system.”
The superintendent said the administration recognized the importance of having students in school in person during the limited face-to-face instruction amid the COVID-19 pandemic and believes an expansion is warranted.
“Those coming out of preschool needed more support, the kindergartners going to first grade needed more support,” he said.
By the numbers
The $15,514,928 budget for 2022-23 includes a tax levy increase to $13,230,033, just less than 2 percent more than 2021-22. Tax levy funds 84 percent of the budget, with state aid making up 6.7 percent, fund balance 5.2 percent and reserves 3.6 percent.
The district will use $350,000 from capital reserves to fund a roof replacement at Seaview Elementary School and $200,000 from maintenance reserves for general upkeep. Fund balance of $797,513 will also be applied to the budget.
If adopted as presented, the local school tax rate would increase 2.7 cents per $100, meaning an increase of $27 on every $100,000 of assessed value. The owner of an average-assessed home of $296,222 would see an increase of about $80.
Factoring into the tax rate increase is the rising cost of salaries and benefits for employees, which account for 83 percent of the budget.
The district continues to lose state aid, with the amount falling $537,275 from $1.58 million in 2016-17 to $1.04 million in 2022-23. That amount of aid, however, is based on the assumption of steady enrollment, Pruitt said, which has not been the case.
Total enrollment has fallen from a high of 846 students in 2014-15 to 767 for 2022-23, but that number is from fall 2021 and 800 is more accurate, he said.
At the same time, the district reduced is staffing to coincide with the loss of students.
“We will continue to cut to achieve a smooth transition between enrollment and staffing,” Pruitt said.
A good sign for the district is the city’s ratable base increased for the first time since at least 2016, when the city’s total taxable property amounted to $978,750,200. Due to successful tax appeals and other factors, that fell steadily to $930,606,100 in 2021 but increased by .05 percent to $931,071,000 for this budget year.
Eagle-eyed BA
Pruitt presented the budget to the Board of Education on March 23, saying information gleaned earlier that day would positively affect the district. He said Kevin Byrnes, the third business administrator in the district since Pruitt started in 2018, caught an error in the way savings through the New Jersey Educators Health Plan were calculated and filed a successful appeal challenging it.
The modification Byrnes obtained reduces the imposed Chapter 44 adjustment from $122,820 to $9,470, saving the district $113,000.
“The difference in the Chapter 44 adjustment amount will be reflected in the final budget for the 2022-23 school year,” Pruitt said.
The district will be able to adjust its numbers accordingly but not until after the budget has been adopted. Pruitt said many more districts are realizing the mistake and appealing the decision, delaying the process.
Generating savings
The district is being proactive about controlling costs and is actually engaged in a plan to reverse the cost of powering the facilities by partnering on a solar project.
Pruitt said solar arrays would be erected on the roof of both Seaville Elementary and Belhaven Middle School. The project will cost the district nothing through a 15-year power purchase agreement
“That will be completed at no cost and money will flow back to the school through savings,” Pruitt said, noting it also would fund part of a roofing project at Seaview.
“We are taking every step to save money,” Pruitt said.
As part of the project, the solar company plans to replace about 40 percent of the roof to bring it under warranty with the rest of school.
“We are excited that it’s green energy and has a curricular component,” he said, referencing the kiosks the company will set up in the schools that monitor how much energy has been save through their use.
Expanding kindergarten
The district now offers four half-day sessions of 2.5 hours, with two sessions in the morning and two in the afternoon. Pruitt said the budget includes funding for expansion of the program at Seaview Elementary School to accommodate all students for a full day aligned with the rest of the student schedule.
Pruitt said additional staffing would be funded by an ESSER III grant this year only, with the district absorbing that cost going forward.
He said the district should qualify for more state aid after initiating the full-day program, which would help cover the cost.
The next step would be organization for registration, facilities planning, staff assignments and training.
Pruitt warned that the money to pay additional expenses for kindergarten expansion is one-time funding and that many unknowns could affect the budget including changing state aid, operational costs and mandated expenditures.
“Future projections have to include the idea that we may need to cut in other areas such as staffing and programs,” Pruitt said.
He said the funding will be gone after the first year and the cost will have to be absorbed by the general fund.
“The money will come from the budget moving forward,” he said.
Public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 27.
By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff