All Around Pennsauken

By the Pennsauken Board of Education: Nick Perry, President; Allyson Meloni-Scavuzzo, Vice President; Cheryl Duffy; Michael Hurley; Diane Johnson; Leona Moss; Meg Snyder; Orlando Viera; and JoAnn Young

Don’t get us wrong; the members of the Board of Education welcome the signs of spring. However this time of year also marks the arrival of the budget season, a labor intensive and oftentimes challenging process.

The Board’s budget process typically begins in late winter and continues throughout the spring, ending with a formal public budget hearing during the month of April. This year, our first budget meeting was held on Saturday, Feb. 27. This first meeting gave our administration the opportunity to present the District’s “wish list.” The Board reviewed this list and discussed each of the items with the administration. Eventually, the Board and the administration came to a consensus regarding the items that were needed for the Pennsauken School District to be able to function efficiently while taking into account our fiscal constraints. With continually shrinking financial resources, the conversations are difficult and the decisions about what is necessary versus what is a luxury are even more challenging.

The subsequent meetings that the Board had during the month of March focused on continual refinement of our 2016-2017 budget. The Board, with the help of the administration, reviewed our goals and objectives to guide us in our budget decisions. Our main goal guiding this year’s budget was to improve the instructional program. To do so, the Board focused on adding several key positions and programs, including two new science coaches to help implement a new science curriculum that is aligned with state and federal standards. The Board also decided to continue with programmatic changes that were implemented last year, including maintaining our instructional coaching positions in the areas of literacy and mathematics.

One of the largest budgetary challenges for the district is in the area of special education, which accounts for approximately 10 percent of our yearly budget. In an attempt to be as fiscally responsible as possible, while still providing the necessary and governmentally mandated services to our students, the Board of Education has reserved funds in our 2016-2017 capital budget to transform the building located next to our administrative offices into an alternative school. This would allow students with special needs to be educated within our school district, rather than to be sent to out of district programs, which are incredibly costly. This not only helps the district to conserve finances, but also provides the students with the opportunity to be educated in their own Township.

With skyrocketing costs in many areas, the Board acknowledged that in order to keep certain things, others must go. Therefore, to save costs, we decided to scale back on our summer school program. As one of the few districts that are still offering summer programs, we needed to focus our funds on the students that were most in need. Therefore, summer school will be offered to help struggling seventh and eighth grade students as they approach promotion to the high school; as well as high school juniors and seniors as they prepare for graduation. Mandatory summer school for identified students with special needs will continue.

In addition, the Board has reduced costs in other areas, including more efficient spending on district supplies; and enrolling in an Energy Savings Improvement Plan or ESIP, which will help to increase energy efficiency through a series of capital improvements that will reduce the energy expenditures of the district significantly.

If approved at the public hearing on April 28 – which occurs on the day after this issue of All Around Pennsauken goes to print – the overall total 2016-2017 budget for the school district will be approximately $100 million. Funding for the budget comes from three sources: Pennsauken residents, the State of New Jersey, and the federal government. This budget will allow us to continue with our goals of improving the instructional program, maintaining our facilities, and providing a quality education for the children being educated in the Pennsauken School District. Without the contributions of our residents, we would not be able to achieve these goals. We are eternally grateful to our wonderful community. For this reason and so many others, we are truly Pennsauken Proud!

Board Bit Of The Month

Work began on the 2016-2017 budget of September 2015. The Board of Education thanks Dr. James Chapman, interim superintendent of schools; Mr. John Deserable, interim business administrator; and the District’s administrative staff for their dedication and effort!