Homeowners in seven of the eight communities in the Lenape Regional High School District will see an increase in their regional school tax ranging from almost $18 to almost $234, depending on their municipality, according to the preliminary district 2024-25 budget released Wednesday.
While the district anticipated a cut in state aid, it did not foresee a "huge canyon" in the budget-making process, district Superintendent Carol Birnbohm said at Wednesday night's school board meeting.
"We were anticipating only a $337,000 loss of state aid," she said. "Year after year of seeing state aid budget reductions, we were going into the budget season with a hole in the millions, and so it was already going to be a tough budget year. Then, when we heard that $337,000 turned into $4.69 million, we were utterly shocked."
Even if the district receives restorative aid, some cuts will be needed, Birnbohm said of the high school district that consists of Cherokee, Lenape, Seneca and Shawnee high schools.
For the homeowner, the property tax impact for the preliminary budget, as estimated by the district:
• In Medford Township, the proposed tax levy would mean an increase of $45.16 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $330,888.
• In Medford Lakes Borough, the proposed tax levy would mean an increase of $146.67 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $289,833.
• In Mount Laurel Township, the proposed tax levy would mean an increase of $37.38 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $238,700.
• In Shamong Township, the tax levy would mean an increase of $233.90 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $310,641.
• In Southampton Township, the tax levy would mean an increase of $32.46 on a home assessed at the municipality average of $189,066.
• In Tabernacle Township, the tax levy would mean an increase of $145.38 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $274,369.
• In Woodland Township, the tax levy would mean an increase of $17.82 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $255,200.
Evesham Township comes out the winner: the levy would mean a decrease of $26.97 a year on a home assessed at the municipality average of $272,848. The decrease stems from a greater drop in enrollment at Cherokee High in Evesham compared to the other municipalities, according to the district.
Megan Jones, Lenape District Education Association president, requests while standing at a podium that the school board move "as quickly as possible" in the budget process.
Megan Jones, president of the Lenape District Education Association, asked the school board to move as quickly as possible in the budget process to eliminate the stress that many employees are feeling.
"It is critical to recognize that it is not only our untenured staff that are anxious, but veteran members with seven to 10 years of service in our district, uncertain if they rank high enough to retain their positions," she told the board.
In previous budgets, the district has eliminated certificated and non-certificated staff members, merged several positions, reduced health benefits packages to newly hired paraprofessionals, shared teachers among schools, eliminated courtesy and late run bus routes and charged students fees to park on district property or participate in activities and athletics, according to the district.
The district has stated that, to fill the budget gap, it will not replace retirees but it has not indicated how much that would save.
Other details regarding operations, programs, staffing reductions and cost-saving measures in the proposed 2024-25 budget were not disclosed. The public will learn of those details after the preliminary budget is approved by the executive superintendent for Burlington County, according to the district.
Kathleen Warren, a Lenape Regional High School District parent, asks the board while standing at a podium to leave funding for the school district’s art programs intact.
During a public comment portion of the meeting, a handful of people with ties to the district, including Kathleen Warren of Medford, expressed hope the board did not cut the district's art programs.
"COVID (was) a terrible time for all of our children, but for our kids who have music, it was amazing what that did for those kids," Warren said. "It was music that carried (my son) through and it is music that still carries him through."
At a New Jersey Senate Budget Hearing in Newark on Tuesday, Cherokee High student Samuel Levin urged lawmakers to restore some of the district's funding.
"A lack of action today will deny these bright minds the future. Is that what we want to do?" Levin asked. "Where do we want to give our future the opportunity to follow their dreams? Please do not dismantle the pillars of our school."
During the school board meeting, Birnbohm encouraged district residents to follow Levin's lead and express their feelings about the cuts by using the contact information for members of New Jersey's executive and legislative branches listed on the district's website.
"We have eight big strong towns," Birnbohm said. "Let your voices be heard."
David E. Stow, a school board member for more than a decade who also said he has actively served on the board's finance committee during his tenure, echoed Birnbohm's request.
"We have one month to make our voices heard before I have to stand before this board again and give another presentation of our budget and talk about the numerous multiple cuts…we have made this year, the programs that we had to sacrifice and the devastation that happens not only to our staff but to our kids," he said. "It is not right. There is only one way to turn it around. Let your voice be heard. Go home and take that message to everybody."
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