The New Milford school district will eliminate 22 staff positions, consolidate some jobs, lay off at least five people and make other cuts to cover a loss in state aid and increased operating expenses for the upcoming school year.
There will be cuts in expenses for professional development, supplies, transportation and energy. In addition, the district will cut by half the costs related to its contract with CarePlus for mental health and counseling services.
The cuts in the 2023-24 district budget were prompted by a drop of more than $600,000 in state aid, Superintendent Danielle Shanley told the school board at a meeting last week. State aid varies for districts from year to year and is calculated based on a formula used by the state Department of Education.
In addition, the district will experience a 15% increase in the cost of health benefits, as well as higher transportation costs, Shanley told NorthJersey.com. The pre-pandemic cost for transportation was under $1 million, compared with $1.6 million for the upcoming 2023-24 academic year, she said.
"Making decisions for non-renewals feels a bit like 'Sophie's Choice,'" Shanley said of the staffing cuts, adding that she hopes the district will see state aid rise in the following year.
New Milford enjoyed a significant 57% jump in state aid last year, from $2.9 to $4.6 million, even as enrollment in the district stayed relatively flat, with a little more than 2,000 students.
"If we had not received additional funding last year, we would have been doing the cuts last year," Shanley told NorthJersey.com.
Parents miffed at how questions are handled
Some parents who showed up for board meetings last week were concerned not only about the coming layoffs and eliminated positions, but about how their questions were handled by Shanley during the meetings’ public comment period.
Parents had to successively ask their questions while Shanley took notes. Then she answered them after all the questions had been raised. In most North Jersey school districts, the superintendent and board members answer each question after it is posed.
"I find it a little irresponsible that you pick and choose which questions to answer," one parent said, referring to his questions that went unaddressed after the superintendent responded to residents based on her notes. "The reason we're here is because we're concerned, and we're not getting specific answers. We're getting either general answers or no answers. I always feel like we're not given the opportunity to ask specific questions. At what point do we get some clarity?"
At another of the meetings, a parent said, “I think everyone would like to hear," after Shanley responded to her question with an offer to discuss it on the phone.
Pay raises for executives, cuts to staff
After parents asked if executive positions were being eliminated, how many staff members and teachers were losing their jobs and what measures could have been taken to avoid the cuts, board officials referred them to a published budget and video link to the budget presentation held April 28.
"I'm looking for specific answers,” one parent said. “I don't want to go to a video. I want to speak to someone. And I want that information to be put out to everyone."
A board member then asked Shanley to explain how many people had lost jobs. "I wonder if for the public and for the record we could break this down a little more," he said. "We keep hearing the number 22, but could we drill down a little bit to the number of permanent, full-time, teachers ... that are out of a job?"
Shanley calculated the number on paper as the board watched, and reported the number to be five people.
Shanley's base salary will be $223,686 in fiscal year 2023-24, a 4% increase. School Business Administrator Stephanie Kuchar will receive an 11% raise to $144,605.
Teacher advancement courses costly
Advancement courses taken by some teachers also obligated the district to raise their pay, making them unaffordable and adding to the need for staff cuts and other reductions, Shanley said.
Districts negotiate plans with teachers' unions if there is an automatic bump-up in salaries for staff members who take certain courses, said Hyunju Kwak, a Ridgewood Board of Education member who worked directly with the village teachers' union to negotiate its current contract. That can be a "double whammy" for districts, even though it helps students, she said.
Districts could reduce these costs by curating the courses to include only specific ones they certify and accept. Tuition reimbursement for these courses can add to district costs, she said.
Overall, districts statewide were facing "headwinds" from inflation and health benefit costs, Kwak said. Districts can apply for a health waiver if they face high benefits costs, she said.
The New Milford budget did not take into account one-time additional funding of $397,496 from the state, which could not be used to fund recurring costs such as salaries, Shanley told the board. Schools affected by cuts will receive the one-time funding from the state to defray rising costs from inflation and impacts on their budgets because of the end of COVID relief dollars.
State aid to New Milford for the last five years
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