Kinnelon Adopts Budget Without Pay Increase

The adopted a budget Monday night that is $120,000 less than their previously proposed $35.3 million budget. The district has budgeted for a zero percent increase in salaries, though negotiations are still ongoing, and the addition of the equivalent of four full-time positions.

The adopted $35,214,917 budget is a 1.5 percent increase, or $535,478 over last year's $34,679,439 revised budget. The budgeted tax levy is $30,701,983, an increase of 2 percent over last year's $30,099,983 tax levy. For the average home assessed at $390,000, taxpayers would see an increase of about 2.4 percent, or $183.

During a public hearing on the budget Monday, Business Administrator Alice Robinson said about 58.4 percent of the district's operating budget is devoted to salaries under the adopted budget, while about 4.4 percent is spent on benefits. Under the adopted budget, Robinson said that employees would now have to contribute about 1.5 percent to their benefits.

The district is slated to receive , bringing the total amount of aid to $880,010 for the 2011-2012 school year. But administrators were quick to point out that while the aid was increased this year, the district is still suffering from cuts the previous year, in which Robinson said the district lost $1.9 million. At a previous meeting, Board Member Keith Dama said that of the additional money, $42,000 was charged of the school district for capital repairs to and schools.

"We're thankful for it, but it brings state aid to 2.5 percent of our budget," she said.

Robinson said that the district was able to appropriate $200,000 last year to reduce taxes, and that while the district was hoping to be able to appropriate another $200,000, they did not want to deplete the fund balance. The district is instead planning to appropriate $80,000 this year and hoping that more money can be flowed into the fund balance and used for appropriations next year.

Of the position equivalencies, Superintendent James Opiekun said the district would want to hire two part-time kindergarten teachers, a part-time Autism specialist at , a part-time Special Education aide at the and another part-time Special Education aide. The budget also calls for an elementary position and two more part-time Special Education aide positions funded by an Ed Jobs grant. Opiekun said since these positions would be grant-funded, they would not be included in the tax levy.

The superintendent also said that if the budget allows, he would like the district to take a serious look at adding a counselor at Stonybrook School to provide support to students and proactive intervention to try and curb potential behavioral and learning issues on the elementary level.

During the presentation, Opiekun emphasized the high quality of education students receive in Kinnelon and thanked the teachers. Opiekun described the "unwavering support" from faculty members towards a mission for excellence.

"The reason why we have the success we have is because of the teachers we have," he said.

Director of Curriculum and Instruction Diane DiGiuseppe also presented during the hearing and said the district will be looking at updating the curriculum this summer. DiGiuseppe said the district will be writing curriculum for K-5 math; 1-9 social studies; grade 7 math; 6-8 science; and 9-12 French and Latin.

"Right now we are facing a new today in education," she said. DiGiuseppe explained that the district is faced with having to update curriculum to not only conform with national standards, but state standards as well.

"We have a timeline in which we have to comply and the Department of [Education] has not given us a lot of time to bring our documents up to speed and incorporate and align the new standards with what we're doing in the classroom."

During the public comment portion of the meeting, several taxpayers commended the district for their hard work in preparing the budget. 

Richard DeMarco, a Green Hill Road resident and president of the New Jersey Taxpayer's Association said the association would be taking a hard look at the budget the district has put together and determine whether or not they support it in coming weeks. 

One taxpayer asked if there was anything the community could do to raise voter awareness about the budget and what it contains. Opiekun said the district will be sending out mailers and that he encourages the community to spread the word about the importance of voting. Earlier in the meeting, he referred to the latest which pointed to a population increase of now over 10,000 people in .

"Even though we're now over 10,000 people, we still don't have over 10,000 voices," he said.

Registered voters will be able to vote on April 27 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

To view the full PowerPoint slideshow that was presented to the public Monday, click here.