After lengthy preparations and deliberations, the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) last Thursday approved a tentative budget of $95,702 million for the 2017-18 school year, an increase of 4.88 percent over last year, with an anticipated 4.7 percent rise in the tax levy.
School taxes on the average Princeton home, assessed at $821,771, would increase by $223.95, a 2.5 percent hike.
“But this budget is not about numbers,” PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane said. “A budget is really about vision, values, and financing the future of our children.”
Mr. Cochrane went on to explain three key factors driving the budget increase: the Strategic Plan, including needs emerging from program reviews in science, community service and health, and PE; demographics, with 150-160 additional students projected for next year; and the first-year phase-in of the recently approved Charter School expansion, which will cost the district $826,000.
Pointing out the extensive thinking and planning on the part of principals and supervisors during the process, Mr. Cochrane emphasized, “We’ve been very judicious.” As an example he noted that the High School, despite an anticipated increase of 60 students next year, has not requested additional staff.
Waivers due to enrollment growth and health care costs allow the District to raise the budget above the two percent state cap. Over the past two weeks, the Board, to rein in expenses, has cut $248,545 in new staff requests and an additional $147,570 on other proposed spending, according to business administrator Stephanie Kennedy, and has also increased revenue by $250,000 from surplus.
Mr. Cochrane noted that between now and finalization of the budget at the end of April, he and his staff are continuing to look for ways to reduce the increase. He added that he had communicated with Charter School Head Larry Patton in hopes of saving the District money through a reduction in the size or the rate of roll-out of the Charter School
expansion.
The tentative budget will be submitted to the State Department of Education for approval before being presented again at a public hearing on April 25. Parents and community members are encouraged to attend the March 28 Board meeting to provide additional feedback.
The District also expects to propose a facilities bond referendum, possibly as soon as a December 2017 special election, to accommodate increasing enrollments and space needs.
Setback for PARCC
In other school news of note, the New Jersey Assembly voted 67-3 last Thursday to overturn regulations making the PARCC tests (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) a graduation requirement. The process does not require the governor’s signature, but it must still pass the State Senate, which will consider the proposal in its Education Committee.
Current rules require students to pass the PARCC 10th grade English and Algebra I exams in order to graduate from high school, beginning with the Class of 2021, now eighth graders. Students currently in high school can fulfill the graduation requirement with scores on the SAT, ACT or other exams.
Local educators, teachers’ unions, and community members have criticized the controversial PARCC, with many parents in Princeton choosing for their children, particularly at the high school level, to opt out of taking the tests.
This years’s PARCC testing begins next week.