Kinnelon BOE Approves Preliminary $35.3M Budget

The approved its $35.3 million preliminary budget at a workshop meeting Thursday. The preliminary budget includes $220,000 in additional staffing.

The general fund tax levy for the budget would be $30,821,983. According to Business Administrator Alice Robinson, a school district taxpayer whose home is assessed at $390,000 would pay $7,867 in taxes under the proposed budget—an increase of $197 over last year's taxes. Last year's actual budget was $34.6 million.

Kinnelon's proposed budget includes the addition of about $220,000 in staffing. This includes 1.75 teaching positions at a cost of about $100,000, Robinson said at the meeting, which would amount to about $12 in taxes, and one teacher for either the fourth or fifth grade and one guidance counselor, both at as recommended by Superintendent James Opiekun.

Opiekun said that while the district cannot predict enrollment for next year, the fourth and fifth grade classes are averaging around 24 students currently, and that if the district were to pick up a few more students in those classes, class size could become an issue.

Kinnelon found out last week that the district would be receiving an increase of $322,824 in state aid. At the board's meeting last Thursday, Board Member William Hickey explained that the district was considering But Opiekun said this Thursday that his concern goes beyond simply adding one teaching position at Stonybrook, and that providing students with transitional support, through the guidance department at Stonybrook, before they enter the middle school has seemed to help the students as well.

Opiekun said it is important to note that the proposed budget does not include any reductions in staff. Instead, it actually does include programatic increases, such as an expansion of the virtual high school program the district began last year, which allows students to take certain electives on the computer. The budget also allows for the purchasing of some new textbooks.

When asked why not add teachers elsewhere in the district, Opiekun said, "I would say right now the hot spots are in the fourth and fifth grade."

Opiekun said the sale of homes last year and the closing of the Our Lady of the Magnificat school drove enrollment and that there really is no way to know how high enrollment could go for next year.

Board Member Patricia Moeser recommended the district reach out to local real estate agents to inquire about children moving into the borough.

"It's possible to know the homes that are sold, but it may be difficult to ask the realtors to identify children," Board Member Keith Dama said.

Dama instead recommended the district send welcome letters inquiring about new children to families after they move to Kinnelon.

The proposed increase in pay-to-play fees also came up during the meeting, with Moeser asking for information about whether this year's fees, about $150 per student, deterred any students from participating in after-school activities. Under the pay-to-play policy, students who participate in after school activities, athletics, or who park at school were asked to pay a fee. Those students who participated in clubs but did not drive to school and did not participate in athletics paid $60 this year.

Opiekun said he would provide Moeser with the information, but that it was not immediately availab,e and he said the board is considering raising the fee to $200 per student as opposed to $150, as the district does not expect to gain the $100,000 in revenue it was expecting this year. Money for the pay-to-play fee has not yet been collected.

Dama praised the pay-to-play policy and said that the district has had a successful response from asking parents to sign pledges agreeing to pay the fees. "We're having a positive and cooperative experience," he said.

Parent Jennifer Patricelli said she is not turned off by the potential increase in fees for pay-to-play. "I'm very accustomed to paying for sports," she said, adding that her children have played in other sports programs that require a $400 participation fee as well as a $100 uniform fee.

The proposed budget will now be submitted to the county, but  the board will be holding a budget hearing on March 28 before asking the public to vote on it in April.