Lenape Regional High School District board votes to take deep cuts in the 2024-25 school year budget.

The Lenape Regional High School district school board on Tuesday night passed a budget for the next school year that cuts deeply, eliminating dozens of positions and discontinuing 20 clubs.

Taxes in seven of the eight municipalities the district serves will increase under the adopted $167.2 million budget.

Agreements with 90 non-tenured staff will not be renewed, 20 stipend positions will be cut and more than 40 positions will be left vacant when the employees retire or resign, board member David Stow said of next year's budget. The Navy Junior ROTC program also will be eliminated.

"I have to confess that this one is going to really hurt," Stow said of 2024-25 budget. "It really upsets me to have to give you a budget presentation like (this) one."

Added District Superintendent Carol Birnbohm: "There are times that we have to deliver news that is difficult to hear. Tonight is one of those times."

Other cuts include canceling the contract with alternative educational provider Chancelight, replacing some school resource officers at Cherokee High School with special law enforcement officers and using guards rather than State Police at select district events, Stow continued.

In the coming school year, the district will also buy fewer textbooks and supplies and end some non-mandatory special education programs and activities.

Voting for the budget were Stow, Nicole Moore Samson, Margaret M. Estlow, JoAnne E. Harmon, Paula D. Lee, Steve H. Lee, Jennifer L. Levas and Charles D. Roseboro. Board members Robert H. Bende Jr., Barry J. Fitzgerald and Samuel B. Green did not attend the meeting.

The new school district budget means district homeowners, with the exception of Evesham Township, will see tax increases. Those annual increases are, according to the district:

• $37.38 on a home in Mount Laurel Township assessed at the municipal average of $238,700
• $45.16 on a home In Medford Township assessed at the municipal average of $330,888
• $146.67 on a home in Medford Lakes Borough assessed at the municipal average of $289,833
• $233.90 on a home in Shamong Township assessed at the municipal average of $310,641
• $32.46 on a home in Southampton Township assessed at the municipal average of $189,066
• $145.38 on a home in Tabernacle Township assessed at the municipal average of $274,369
• $17.82 on a home in Woodland Township assessed at the municipal average of $255,200

Evesham Township homeowners will see a $26.97 annual property tax decrease on a home assessed at the municipal average of $272,848 because of a greater drop in enrollment at Cherokee High in Evesham compared to the other municipalities, according to the district.

The district will begin charging fees for students' graduation caps and gowns, according to Stow. The board also will not cover fees associated with Preliminary SATs (PSAT), the seal of biliteracy tests and Chromebook warranties, all of which are optional costs that students or their parents will have to pay, according to Stow. 

The district blamed the cuts and fees on an outdated state school funding formula, growing demands for special education, an inflation-caused surge in operational costs and a $4.7 cut in state aid, the latter of which was almost 14 times higher than the district said it was anticipating.

For 2024-25, the district’s administrative cost is $1,874 per student, below the maximum regional limit of $2,575 per student, according to Stow. The district’s enrollment in the fall was 6,485 students, according to the New Jersey Department of Education website. Although the district’s student population is expected to decrease by about 80 students for 2024-25, the number of students with special needs is expected to increase by about 40 students for that same year, Stow explained.

Legislation is pending before the State Assembly and Senate that, if passed, may restore some of the cuts.  

Before the Tuesday night meeting, Birnbohm told a 70and73.com reporter that legislation is only a temporary fix, adding that if the Senate passes its bill, up to 66 percent of the district's cut in state aid would be restored.

Birnbohm also expressed hope that once the state budget is resolved, all elected officials would discuss ways to fund schools to avoid drastic state aid cuts in the future, adding, "ensuring adequate funding for education should be a non-negotiable priority for our state, reflecting our shared commitment to nurturing our educational system."

The school board was initially scheduled to vote on the budget in April, but postponed that meeting until Tuesday in the hopes that legislation could be passed and cuts could be spared, but to no avail, district officials said. With a May 15 deadline looming for the district to either provide non-tenured teaching staff an employment contract or written notice that their position would be eliminated, the district could not wait any longer to act on the budget.