Some attended the meeting to show their support of district bus drivers by opposing outsourcing transportation services.
The Evesham Township school board voted 6-3 on Monday evening for a 2025-26 district budget that would boost the average school district property tax bill by $910 a year — a 25% increase.
The local decision now requires state approval.
The $100.2 million general fund budget would take the school district property tax on the average home assessment of $272,785 to $4,564 from $3,654, according to the district. The budget also requires outsourcing the services now provided by district-employed bus drivers.
The large tax increase was made possible by the district applying to a new state program that would allow its budget to reach "adequacy" in education, staffing and infrastructure by sharply increasing property taxes. School districts ordinarily are limited to a 2% annual cap on tax increases.
Superintendent Justin Smith said at the meeting that the New Jersey Department of Education was still reviewing the district adequacy application, but that the initial review showed the district had "provided the required components" in its request.
Board members David Bock, Jarod Brown, Terri Butrymowicz, Aneesh Kanthan, Kevin Peelman and William Thompson voted in favor of the budget. None offered comments to explain their vote. Board members Aiden DeMarsey, Tracy Fox and Janis Knoll opposed the budget.
"We have more residents staying in our town," Knoll said of the decision. "Their kids are here. Their grandkids are here. They do not want to move. They like it here, as I do, and I am afraid that this will force a lot of our long-time residents out, and that is really sad."
According to Smith, items in the approved budget include:
- Keeping elementary and middle school class sizes at their current levels at a cost of $1.7 million
- Keeping the student and staff initiative called Team Structure at a cost of $900,000
- Keeping elementary and middle school late buses at a cost of $500,000
- Keeping bus aides at a cost of $350,000
- Adding a social worker, behaviorist and counselor to the district at a cost of $330,000
- Keeping elementary school extracurriculars at a cost of $250,000
- Keeping health benefits for most paraprofessionals at a cost of $162,500
- Providing one math intervention teacher to each elementary school at a cost of $480,000
- Providing two 10-month elementary school assistant principals at a cost of $280,000
- Providing two middle school-related positions at a cost of $160,000
- Providing a case manager at a cost of $120,000
- Postponing plans to increase the number of walk-to-school routes at a cost of $100,000
- Restoring full funding to one position within the district program for gifted and talented students known as Tier 3 at a cost of $40,000
Although the 25% tax increase in the budget spurred some comments from the public, more spoke up about how the budget also includes revenues from the district leasing space at DeMasi Elementary School to Y.A.L.E. Schools, an institution that provides education to students ages 3 to 21 with disabilities.
"Our current schedules and school procedures are created around the needs of middle school students. Adding Y.A.L.E. to our shared spaces would further stretch our resources," said Erika Wyzykiewicz, a DeMasi teacher.
Before the budget vote, Smith defended the decision to still lease space to Y.A.L.E. even if the adequacy application is approved, noting that the $300,000 in revenue from leasing "is really large amount of money and one that we certainly would want to give an opportunity to."
The approved budget also outsources the remaining district bus drivers, Although Smith said doing so is cost-effective, would save the district $800,000 and is already being done with 66% of the district bus routes, some of the public who spoke at the meeting said that outsourced drivers are not as good as district bus drivers in several ways.
"We bust our butts to get them to school on time every day," said Jason Lutz. "Everybody does what they have to do to make sure those buses are safe every day and nothing goes wrong. …It does not make sense to outsource because you do not know what you are getting."
The budget includes the following capital projects, according to Jonathan Yates, the district business administrator:
- Heat pump and roof replacements
- Parking lot repairs and replacements
- Updates and upgrades to HVAC controls
- Upgrades to public announcement systems and phone systems
- Replacement of aging infrastructure such as boilers, cooling towers and ventilation units
- Tree removals and replacements
