Superintendent
John Keenan notified the Greater Egg Harbor Regional Staff of
major budget cuts which includes cuts in staffing, equipment, supplies
and professional development.
Email from Superintendent John Keenan:
"Preparing
our 2017-2018 school budget presented us with many challenges. We are
not immune to the economic hardships facing Atlantic City and Atlantic
County. In various degrees, all Atlantic County schools are caught up
in this regional economic turmoil.
Adding
to our difficulties is our declining enrollment. In the last five
years, we have lost 13.4% of our enrollment or 508 students. This year
alone, we dropped by 107 students. This further affects us because we
have lost tuition revenue from our sending/receiving relationships with
Port Republic and Washington Township.
For
many years, our state aid has remained flat, and the state has not
followed its own funding formula. This essentially amounts to a cut in
state aid because state funding has not increased in relation to our
rising expenses. This year we have been shorted $2 million dollars.
Each year, we have cut our budget to fit in with these many
restrictions, and we are forced to approach each budget year with an
already lean budget. The rallying cry for years is for the governor to
fully fund schools instead of passing the burdens on to others.
Our
residents face similar challenges and hardships. We are only permitted
to increase revenue on the tax levy by 2%. For us, this amounts to
$620,833. While many of our residents see this amount as a burden in
increased property taxes, the 2% simply does not keep pace with the
millions of dollars in increased expenses. $1.3 million in increased
salaries, utility expenses, tuition for special education placements,
and transportation costs for regular education, special education and
homeless students far exceed our allowable 2% tax levy increase.
Lastly, our proximity to the Atlantic County Institute of Technology
presents more of an issue for us than for other high schools. Payment
for students attending ACIT for next year amounts to $4.1 million
dollars. All of these factors affect our economic condition and we are
forced to make $4.7 million dollars in cuts.
Our
Board of Education and administrative team has worked to prepare a
budget that allows us to preserve our overall programs. However, almost
every area of our budget has been cut. From supplies to equipment to
professional development, we have analyzed and scrutinized all that we
do. The enormity of this cut will affect us all. We all know that
education is a people profession and our human resources make up the
largest portion of our budget. It is most unfortunate that with cuts
this deep, we are forced to reduce staffing. We realize that all staff
are anxious regarding their positions for next year and we especially
know how vital this information is to each of you. This week, we will
personally speak to each individual affected regarding their status for
the next school year.
Our preliminary budget was approved on March 20th with the final budget due May 1st.
Throughout the coming months, your supervisors and administrators will
share more information regarding various department supply cuts. As we
develop our master schedule for 2017-2018, we may have need to consider
transfers and crossovers. We are unable to finalize those decisions
until May.
I am saddened to have to share this news with you, but keeping you informed is a priority for us."
Thank you for your understanding.
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