School Budget Hearings Top Week Ahead

On Monday and Tuesday nights this week, the respective boards of education for Warren Township and Watchung Hills Regional High School will be making final adjustments to their respective proposed budgets.

Both boards will hold public hearings at 7 p.m.—Monday night for Warren Township schools at Warren Middle School and Tuesday for WHRHS—before voting on the final form of each budget proposal to be placed on ballots for voting April 27. Details on the proposed budgets is included below.

To help residents stay current on the budgets and the public hearings, Warren Patch will be providing live coverage via Facebook posts at www.facebook.com/WarrenPatch. Residents interested in the Warren Township school budget are invited to join the discussion page on our Facebook site to share comments, or to get clarification on any topics. Click here for the discussion page for the Watchung Hills Regional High School budget.

Ahead of the April 27 voting, scheduled for a Wednesday due to the Easter Monday holiday when county workers would normally setup the voting booths, school officials and board members are working to get information out about their budgets.

Warren Township Superintendent Tami Crader and township board of education members Roberta Monahan and Kathy Winter attended the March 15 Warren Middle School PTO meeting, the first of a series of meetings, to explain the proposed budget and encourage the PTO members to help support its passage.

"There are three bad things that are happening," Monahan said. "No contested races, new places to vote, and for the first time I've been on the board, the voting in on a Wednesday."

Dr. Crader and the board members are meeting with all of the school PTOs, and have a date to make a presentation at Warrenbrook Senior Center.

The distirct also unveiled an informational video about the programs offered in the school district, aimed at reinforcing the importance of supporting the budget in the public's eyes.

Meanwhile, WHRHS Superintendent Francis Stromsland and Business Adminsitrator Timothy Stys, as well as board members Robert Horowitz and Laura Mandel, are similarly working to inform "key communicators" in each of the district's sending districts. They note the district's proposed budget has actually seen a decrease in total spending due to last year's loss of state aid and the subsequently defeated budget, even as enrollment at the school continues to increase.

Warren Township School Proposed 2011-2012 Budget

Watchung Hills Regional High School 2011-2012 Budget