School board introduces $28M budget
Millstone student tuition accounts for 26% of total plan
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

The Allentown Board of Education unanimously approved a nearly $28 million school budget for 2006-07 at a March 29 meeting.

The budget will go before voters during the Board of Education election on April 18. If approved, the budget would rely on a tax levy of $16.1 million, according to interim Superintendent of Schools Robert Smith.

Under the provisions of the proposed budget, Upper Freehold residents would pay 12.3 cents per $1,000 of assessed value. Homeowners with a house assessed at the township's average of $508,100 would pay $6,255 in school taxes this year, according to Smith.

Upper Freehold underwent a revaluation this year so school officials have said an exact tax rate comparison would be difficult. However, the average homeowner could expect an increase of $413 in school taxes this year, according to Smith.

In Allentown, the school tax rate would increase 25 cents per $100 of assessed value. A homeowner with a house assessed at the borough's average of $154,000 would pay an increase of $386 in school taxes if the proposed budget passes, Smith said.

The local tax levy would make up 58 percent of the total budget, whereas state aid would make up 15 percent, or about $4.2 million, according to Smith.

Tuition from Millstone Township students would account for 26 percent, or $7.4 million of the budget, Smith said. Since Millstone does not have its own high school, it has a send-receive relationship with the Upper Freehold Regional School District.

Millstone students are expected to make up 55 percent of the Allentown High School student population during the 2006-07 school year. Next year, tuition for Millstone students is expected to cost $11,401 per student, according to Smith.

School district enrollment has grown by 33 percent, or 595 students, since the 2001-02 school year, according to Smith's report.

In 2001-02, the district had 1,801 students. Today, there are 2,246 students, and the number is expected to increase to 2,396 in 2006-07, according to Smith.

During that same time period, Smith said state aid has declined.

During the 2001-02 school year, the district received almost $3.6 million in state aid, which amounted to $1,998 for each of the 1,801 students, according to Smith.

Next year, state aid would amount to just over $4.2 million, or approximately $1,769 for each of the anticipated 2,396 students, according to Smith.

Smith said budget adjustments to cap include transportation and extraordinary special education costs. He said increased enrollment is also a factor.

Smith outlined the 2006-07 budget goals as maintenance of programs for all students, maintenance of class size and extension of improvements in instruction.

The budget categories with significant changes include utilities, benefits, special education services and transportation, according to Smith.

Allentown High School staff improvements proposed in next year's budget include the hiring of three full-time teachers and two part-time teachers. The budget would also allow for three teacher/supervisory positions and one part-time secretary for the nurse's office. In addition, the budget plans for the hiring of one full-time and one part-time resource room teacher, according to Smith.

The Upper Freehold Regional Elementary/Middle School would gain two full-time, self-contained special education teachers, two resource room teachers, one full-time speech teacher, and one full-time and one part-time special education assistant. The budget would further allow for additional occupational therapy services, which would require the hiring of one full-time teacher as well as one part-time physical education teacher, according to Smith.

The proposed budget also allots money for the employment of one applied behavioral analysis specialist and the replacement of three school buses, according to Smith.

Miscellaneous local funding would account for $136,000, Smith said, or about 1 percent of the budget.

According to Smith, allocations to reduce the local tax levy for debt and current expenses include $697,254 in interest from construction bonds, and $100,000 from the current expense fund.

The district's mission statement calls the Upper Freehold Regional School District "a caring partnership of school, family and community in transition." According to Smith, the school district aims to "create diverse and balanced opportunities which empower all individuals to be lifelong learners and responsible contributors to our changing world."