The Sayreville Board of Education has adopted a $95 million budget that will pay for the operation of the school district during the 2018-19 school year.
Following a discussion among district administrators and board members and a public hearing, the budget was adopted on May 1.
The $95 million budget will be supported by a tax levy of $65.4 million to be paid by the borough’s residential and commercial property owners. Other revenue includes $24.4 million in state aid and $2 million from the district’s surplus (savings) account.
The school district’s 2017-18 budget totaled $93.2 million and was supported by a tax levy of $63.7 million. The average home was assessed at $144,543 and the school tax rate was $2.7863 per $100 of assessed valuation. The owner of that home paid $4,027 in school taxes.
For 2018-19, the school tax rate will increase to $2.8513 and the average home assessment is estimated at $144,724. The owner of that home will pay $4,126, an increase of $99.
The owner of a home assessed at $144,724 in 2017 paid $4,032 in school taxes last year. If that owner’s home is still assessed at $144,724 this year, the $4,127 to be paid in school taxes will be a $95 increase.
Board President Kevin Ciak, board Vice President Anthony Esposito and board members Christopher Callahan, Lucy Bloom, Karen Rubio and John Walsh voted “yes” on adopting the budget. Board members Daniel Balka, Phyllis Batko and Thomas Biesiada voted “no”.
According to Superintendent of Schools Richard Labbe, the budget will fund renovations of the district’s schools and facilities, such as new exterior doors at an elementary school, sidewalk reparations at the middle and upper elementary schools, and the installation of interior and exterior security cameras, in addition to projects to enhance the district’s infastructure.
The budget will also be used to help the security of the school buildings through funding the hiring of police officers, school resource officers and campus security monitors. Furthermore, it will renew the district’s licenses for anti-bullying/hazing software systems, purchase supplies for the Responsive Classroom and Playworks character education programs at the elementary and upper elementary schools, and utilize school solutions to address students’ social, emotional and behavioral needs, according to Labbe.
Academically, the superintendent said the budget will fund new instructional positions at Sayreville War Memorial High School: a behavioral disabilities teacher, a French teacher, a computer science teacher and an economics teacher. It will also continue to fund the new Kindergarten-First Grade Fountas and Pinnell Reading System implemented last year, as well as funding the extension of the program into the second grade.
In addition to the reading program, according to Labbe, the budget will expand licenses for the Achieve 300 reading software from students in grades 6-8 to students in grades 4-8, purchase research-based writing software ThinkCerca for at-risk students in grades 9-10, and provide other research-based instructional resources, such as ST Math, Math IXL, Ten Marks, Catch-Up Math, RAZ Kids, Project Read, and Leveled Readers.
