Council to Decide Fate of School Budget

This week the Hillside Township Council is expected to finalize its review of the proposed $39 million school budget in order to decide whether or not it will suggest that any cuts be made.

The budget was overwhelmingly defeated at the polls in April by a 780-to-562 vote in the negative. Despite the rejection, the defeat was the most narrow in recent years. Last year's budget was turned down by an even larger 2-to-1 margin even though the tax impact would only have been half of what it could be this year - a fact that Superintendent Raymond Bandlow hopes the Council will take into consideration.

The law states that a defeated budget must be reviewed by the governing body of the city. The council then has the option of cutting as much as it deems necessary from the proposed budget. The council, however, is not required to cut at all and can allow the budget to stand.


BOARD MEMBERS ASK COUNCIL TO BE REASONABLE

Just weeks before the April 15 vote, many political followers in Hillside predicted the budget's defeat.

As a candidate, school board member Sergio Bichao knew that a defeated budget was inevitable.

"It's unfortunate, but taxpayers have no faith in the Board of Education," he said during the campaign, "For too long, the board has not been responsible in its spending, so how can it expect voters to accept another tax hike?"

Bichao, along with many of his colleagues who now compose the majority on the school board, have been avid critics of previous school boards' spending. Nevertheless, they believe that immediate and drastic cuts are not the answer.

Board member Tasha Saffold has stated that Town Hall should make cuts to its own budget, rather than just taking it all out on the schools.

"Many communities around Hillside appropriate their property taxes so that up to seventy per cent goes to the schools," Saffold explains, "But here, only half of the taxes goes to the schools. So, it's not just the Board of Education that has to slim down. The Council has to share in the responsibility."


CONSEQUENCES OF CUTS

Even with a few cuts to the budget, homeowners would still be expected to pay relatively more in property taxes. But while cutting the budget will provide scanty savings to taxpayers, budget cuts could devastate the school system, school officials argue.

In a report that the Superintendent is expected to present to township officials, cuts totaling $1.5 million could result in the loss of music and athletic programs at the high school, as well as the elimination of the Twilight Academy - an evening school session for problematic students.

If cuts of up to $2 million dollars are made, all of the above would be at risk in addition to losses in security personnel, teacher supervision, classroom teachers, and the "gifted and talented" programs at the elementary schools.

Community activists are urging taxpayers and parents to attend the budget meeting at Town Hall on Wednesday, May 14 at 7PM.