Red Bank school district cuts budget by $240K
BY SUSANNE MORELLI Staff Writer

The Red Bank Board of Education (BOE) introduced a $15,137,012 million preliminary budget, representing a decrease from last year at its March 17 workshop meeting.

"This represents a decrease of $240,532 from the 2008-2009 total of $15,377,544," said Annie Darrow, district business administrator, in an email last week.

The district received $2,518,251 in state aid for the 2009-10 school year.

For the second year in a row, the proposal calls for a tax levy of $11,604,290, the same as in 2008-2009, with no increase but the impact will be a decrease of the school portion of the tax bill by $6.96 per year," according to Darrow.

"Our goal was to prioritize the needs of the district in order to provide the support for the education programs while remaining sensitive to the economic realities that we are forced to deal with," said Darrow.

At the Feb 24. meeting, the board looked at ways to trim the 2009 school budget, including cutting some bus routes and creating a walking zone for students.

Darrow said, "By sharpening our pencils and identifying the areas that we could reduce, we prioritized needs at all levels."

By eliminating two bus routes and creating a walking zone, the district estimated it would save between $60,000 and $70,000.

Also, by putting aside unanticipated facility maintenance costs such as roofing and HVAC problems, the district expected to save another $150,000.

Darrow also highlighted a number of examples of areas where spending was reduced despite increases in special education costs, instruction, salaries and benefits.

"By reducing the number of replacement computers, we saved $18,000, we reduced conference fees, professional fees, professional development, eliminated two professional memberships, reduced the number of curriculum development hours, reduced transportation costs and maximized our grant funds," Darrow said in the email.

Also, district administration and building principals discussed and analyzed requests to make informed decisions as they balanced the educational needs of the students and the goals of the district, while being very aware of the tough economic times for taxpayers, she said.

A public budget hearing will be held at the March 31 Board of Education meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the primary school, 222 River St., Red Bank.

The user-friendly budget is now available on the district's website, www.k12.nj.us.