Most on board want busing back in budget Board sees increase in regular, special ed. costs coming in ’07-’08 BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer About 45 parents brought a message to the Sayreville Board of Education Tuesday night: Return courtesy busing for the next school year. And they were pleased to see the majority of the board support that idea. In a tentative 5-3 vote, the board supported funding courtesy busing in the 2007-08 school budget. A ninth board member was undecided on the issue. If the item cannot be returned to the budget, the board majority agreed, voters should again be asked about it in a separate budget question during the April school election. The board last year took courtesy busing for grades six through 12 out of the operating budget and made it a special question, which was defeated along with the budget, and then went unfunded this year. Board Vice President Pat Lembo noted that the net savings of removing courtesy busing was $233,000, as opposed to the initial $300,000, since the board wound up funding “hazardous” busing routes. He added that the cost of additional crossing guards, which is being covered by the borough instead of the board, brought the net savings for the taxpayer down even further. “Considering the savings, I would consider putting it back into the budget,” Lembo said. Board of Education President Michael Macagnone wasn’t so sure. “I didn’t buy the safety issue last year,” Macagnone said, referring to complaints from parents that it is not safe for their children to walk to school. He said he and his wife make sure their daughter, who lost courtesy busing, is driven to school each day. Other parents have used carpooling or signed up for subscription busing. Macagnone feels that, since the budget was defeated last year along with the busing question, its return to the budget could spell further trouble. “If the budget fails and goes to the council, they are not going to say, ‘delete courtesy busing,’” he said. The council would instead find another way to cut $300,000, he said, adding that this would jeopardize critical areas such as curriculum and staff. “Of the last six budgets, five didn’t get passed,” Macagnone said, noting that low voter turnout played a part in the defeats. Several parents who spoke at the meeting disagreed with Macagnone’s assertion that courtesy busing is more a matter of convenience, as opposed to a safety issue. Resident Andrea Paredes expressed concerns about children who have to walk along Bordentown Avenue and Ernston Road, which she said are common truck routes. Resident Michael Galvin brought up a different aspect of the busing cut, saying that attendance should be compared between this year and last year. The number of sick days being taken and student tardiness, he said, will help the board understand the impact of the loss of courtesy busing. “What is going to happen when you have the first major snowfall?” Galvin asked the board. He is concerned that some residents will not shovel snow from their sidewalks in the morning, forcing the students to walk on the roadways. Courtesy busing may not even fit in the budget with the state’s mandated cap on spending increases from year to year, Macagnone said. The board president did say that whatever the board majority supports in the end, he will support. He noted this is only the first vote on the matter. “I thought the meeting went well last night,” Macagnone said. “It was democracy in action. I think the people were very cordial and articulate in saying what they want and the board heard them.” The final budget will not be voted on until March, Macagnone said. “The voters came out [Tuesday] in good numbers,” Macagnone said. “I counted 45 people, all in favor of courtesy busing, and the board tentatively agreed to see about putting it in the budget. If it doesn’t work, then the board agreed to ask about it as a separate question.” Overall budget on the rise Tuesday was the full board’s second budget meeting of the year and was held at the Selover School. Macagnone noted that the Finance Committee, which is chaired by board member Kevin Ciak and includes Leonard Zaleski and Thomas Biesiada, has held three meetings so far. “I attended all three,” Macagnone said, adding that the Finance Committee forms the budget, which is then discussed by the board at budget meetings. The proposed $70 million budget for 2007-08 calls for an 8 percent increase in the general fund, but board Business Administrator Emidio D’Andrea said it is still early in the process, and the board wants to decrease the impact on taxpayers. “The number will come down in the next few months,” D’Andrea said. The committee is looking to put together a capital lease in order to take on multiple projects in the district, D’Andrea said. He defined capital leasing as an alternative to funding various projects gradually over time. “You bundle a bunch of selected projects into a group, and then you come up with a dollar value and propose it as a question to the community,” D’Andrea said. Capital leasing would require the board to pay back its lender over a five-year period. “We have major projects in the district that we need to start addressing,” D’Andrea said. These projects include new windows and a roof at the Selover School, which has a heating system with controls that no longer work. He added that it could be 65 degrees outside and the boiler will still be on. Window replacement is also needed at the middle school and the Eisenhower School, D’Andrea said, adding that there is one project at the Wilson School that is too high of a priority to risk having to wait another year for if the projected $5 million capital leasing question is not approved by voters. “I want to caution the board, if you look at capital leasing, my recommendation is don’t include the Wilson school repointing,” D’Andrea said. Mortar between the bricks of the Wilson School need to be replaced, he said, as well as the windows, since rain water is getting into the approximately 75-year-old building. “We have new floors, a new boiler. It is time to seal it up.” Macagnone told the public that the board is obligated to fund about 90 percent of the budget, including transportation, utilities, salaries and employee benefits. The latter two combine for over 70 percent of the budget. “What is left for the board is 10 percent of this budget to agonize over,” Macagnone said. “The other [items] are standard operating costs.” Superintendent of Schools Frank Alfano said the administration is responding to an increase in special education, which is nearly $6.5 million of the total budget, by applying for a half-million-dollar grant. Officials are also looking at ways of integrating regular and special education in order to bring special education students back to the district and save money. The $943,938 increase in regular programs is due in part to a new reading series that the board purchased after several years of putting it off, Macagnone said. He added that out-of-district special education costs fueled the 41 percent increase in instruction tuition. “I challenged that, because I do not think it is accurate,” Macagnone said, adding that he wants the administration to go over those numbers since they are unusually high at an increase of $1.8 million.