Board Of Education Springs Into Budget Preparation
By the Pennsauken Board of Education: Nick Perry, President; Allyson Meloni-Scavuzzo, Vice President; Cheryl Duffy; Michael Hurley; Diane Johnson; Leona Moss; Jennifer Slattery; Orlando Viera; and JoAnn Young
The signs of warmer weather and longer days often have members of the Pennsauken school community daydreaming about the end of the 2016-2017 school year. Though the end of the academic year is still a few months away, the Pennsauken Board of Education is already hard at work preparing next year’s budget. This yearly task is one of the most important for Board of Education members.
During the month of March, the Pennsauken BOE held two special public meetings to discuss and prepare the budget. The budget meetings, which took place on March 2 and 9, provided an opportunity for school administration to present a wish list from each department to the members of the Board of Education. The Board discussed these items; and in consultation with the Superintendent and Business Administrator, decided upon which items needed to be addressed in the budget for next year. The goal of the budget is to promote the growth of the school district while maintaining fiscal responsibility.
The proposed budget for the 2017-2018 school year is $101,489,373.00. The funding for the budget will come from three key sources: the federal government, the state, and the local municipality via taxes collected from the residents. This year’s budget will allow the Board of Education to fund all of its traditional yearly expenses, in addition to taking on a number of projects and the acquisition of new equipment to keep our school district on the path to success.
Some of the highlights in this budget include: replacement of technology equipment, such as servers which are required for PARCC testing, as well as to operate our daily technological services; the purchase of new computers to support a one-to-one initiative for students; updates to our transportation fleet by purchasing two new busses; a facelift to the high school entrance to improve both traffic flow and security; the purchase of air conditioning units for Carson Elementary School; the demolition of the structurally unsound footbridge behind the Intermediate School; and finally, updates in the high school to support the academy and vocational initiatives. There are many plans in the works for Pennsauken Public Schools with two goals at the forefront: safety and education. The education that will be provided will offer opportunities to our students that will ensure real career and college readiness, with dual credit options for post-secondary education and certification for vocational careers.
The Pennsauken Board of Education and school community work diligently each year to balance the needs of the school district with the fiscal responsibility it has to the residents of Pennsauken. We, as always, thank the Pennsauken residents for supporting our school initiatives. We truly are Pennsauken Proud!
Board Bit Of The Month
Our funding from both the state and federal government comprise approximately 60 percent of the school budget, with the remaining 40 percent being funded by the residents of Pennsauken. Thank you Pennsauken residents for all you do for the students of the Pennsauken School District!
