Boro shaves $1M off rejected school budget
Board concerned about suggested cuts to capital projects
BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer
Sayreville's mayor and council ordered more than $1 million in cuts to the Board of Education's rejected budget on Monday.

The reductions came after the borough worked with an auditor on the 2008-09 school budget, which went down in the April 15 election by a vote of 1,711 to 1,153. The $73 million budget had called for an average tax increase of $99. That has been reduced to $31.50.

Borough Councilwoman Paula Siarkiewicz said the administration and finance committee scrutinized the budget with the auditor to find cuts that would not affect students or staff. Auditor John Lauria, of Samuel Klein & Co., said the county released its extraordinary aid figures late this year, recently allotting $329,000 to the school district for specialeducation costs. The aid will be put into the board's budgeted fund balance.

The auditing firm recommended a $690,000 reduction in construction services, effectively eliminating a $175,000 heating system project at the Emma L. Arleth School, two projects at the Sayreville War Memorial High School that cost $200,000 each, and the $55,000 Wilson School auditorium and multipurpose room project, among others, according to Andrew Zabiega, also an auditor with Samuel Klein & Co.

The auditors said the projects could be cut in part because they were not fully funded. Zabiega said projects of dire importance were kept in, such as asbestos removal at Sayreville Middle School and door and roof replacement projects, which affect the safety of students and faculty.

Zabiega said $22,000 will be saved by replacing a top-level secretary who is retiring with a part-time secretary. Superintendent of Schools Frank Alfano later noted that the district had not yet selected somebody for the vacant secretarial position, and that it would likely be an internal candidate.

The firm also recommended that $10,000 be cut from salaries related to the maintenance of school facilities after it found that more overtime has been allotted than was needed in the past.

The auditor further recommended a $21,000 reduction in salaries for custodians. Zabiega said the board hired a nighttime supervisor in order to reduce overtime in an effort to realize these savings.

All of the cuts amount to a reduction in the amount of $818,000. In addition, the auditor recommended a revenue increase in the amount of $335,472 from the board's budgeted fund balance.

Regarding the capital projects that were cut, Lauria suggested that the board consider funding them in full by holding a referendum. However, the board expressed concerns about whether voters would approve the work separately from the budget.

Alfano said that if the board presented the projects to voters as a second ballot question in the April school election, they would have to receive 60 percent approval at a time when the board continues to struggle with getting its budgets approved. If the ballot question was defeated, he added, the district would not be legally permitted to go through with the projects.

"It's a very dangerous procedure," Alfano said.

One additional cut recommended by Lauria but rejected by the council was the removal of a new supervisor of technology, which would have brought $75,000 in savings. The council took the item off the list of cuts after learning that the employee would serve as a teacher and not as an administrator.

Board of Education member Thomas Biesiada told the council that voters have approved very few budgets in the past 20 years, and noted that the first items that are removed from the defeated budgets tend to be capital improvements.

"Why do you think the high school needed so much work to be done?" Biesiada said, referring to the district's $47 million high school referendum project, which is slated for completion next year.

The auditors reiterated that their firm only removed projects that were not fully funded or were not necessary for the safety of students and faculty. They said the heating system at Arleth School was underfunded by at least $800,000, the high school track project costs at least $200,000 more than was allotted in the budget, and theWilson School project was underfunded by approximately $35,000.

School BusinessAdministrator Emidio D'Andrea noted that a vendor estimated that the cost of the Wilson School auditorium and multipurpose room at $55,000, which is the amount the board allotted for it in the budget. He added that the board's engineers said the figure was closer to $80,000.

Biesiada said he was one of three members of the board's finance committee who toured all of the district's buildings in an effort to assess which capital improvement projects were most urgent. He said he is concerned about the recommended cut in funding for the Wilson School auditorium and multipurpose room project, since the wooden floor of that room is rotted out in sections.

"Over 30 percent of the floor can't be used," Biesiada said. "… It's an absolute disgrace, to be honest with you."

Board of Education member Phyllis Batko, who chairs the finance committee, told the council that this was the first year since she has been on the board that the district has tried to move ahead with so many capital projects. She added that after touring buildings like the Wilson School, it is clear the board must find a way to achieve the council's ordered savings in other ways, so that the work can remain in the budget.

Mayor Kennedy O'Brien told the board that how they decide to apply the cuts is their decision.

"If 30 percent of the floor is dangerous, I have a great concern about that," O'Brien said. Batko expressed frustration with the elimination of the high school track fromthe budget, since the condition of the track may result in student athletes having to hold meets at other schools.

Councilman Rory Zach urged the board to get more parents to vote on the budget next year. He said the board needs to improve its public perception. Zach agreedwith past commentsmade by Board of Education President Michael Macagnone that this year's voter turnout was poor, citing the roughly 3,000 voterswho participated in the election when there are roughly 6,000 students in the school system. The voters who participated in the school election lastmonth make up 13 percent of registered voters in Sayreville.

"Parents have to come out and support the school system," Zach said.

Macagnone said the board put a significant amount of time into the budget and cited the need to address the district's "crumbling infrastructure," including buildings that have water intrusion problems, rotting floors and doors that do not lock in a secure manner, as a cause of concern. He said the board took a risk by investing in capital outlay projects to address serious issues across the district.

"Leadership sometimes requires us to make those tough calls," Macagnone said.