WHRHS Board Gives Final OK to $37.4 Million Budget

Voters will decide the fate of the proposed $37.4 million Watchung Hills Regional High School budget, after the district board of education unanimously approved the budget at Tuesday's public hearing.

The budget includes raising $26,568,135 in local tax levies, a 2 percent increase despite the total budget's actual 1.74 percent decrease.

If approved by voters on April 27, the budget includes a $50 annual reduction in taxes for the owner of Warren property at the township average assessment, a $110 increase for Watchung and a $154 increase in Long Hill. School officials spent considerable time at Tuesday's hearing trying to explain to complicated formulas for determining the tax assessments to each community, which is based on property assessments in the three towns.

The vote followed a review of the budget by Superintendent Francis Stromsland, who pointed to the district's acheivements and successes, including students' performance on state standardized tests, enrollment in Advanced Placement classes, and advancing SAT scores. Dr. Stromsland also noted the students' performance in areas such as theater, including the recent "Cinderella" production, and other co-curricular activities.

She also noted that despite the loss of more than $2 million last year due to reduced state aid and the defeat of the budget, the district continued security and fire safety improvements to the facility. Dr. Stromsland said the proposed budget continues building maintenance work, and "maintains the academic excellence at this school."

She concluded by noted the proposed budget includes funding for technology upgrades and a school resource officer.

A debate among board members briefly flared over discussion of the loss of tuition revenue paid by Green Brook Township for students attending WHRHS. Unlike the sending districts of Watchung, Warren and Long Hill, Green Brook pays tuition based on the number of students attending and the district's cost per pupil. Because of the decrease last year in the cost per pupil, the district saw a decrease in tuition paid by Green Brook totaling more than $400,000. The total tuition paid represents nearly 20 percent of the district's revenue.

Business Administrator Timothy Stys said he's concerned another drop will further erode tuition revenue, especially if the budget is defeated again.

"Going through another budget defeat is a very, very difficult thing," Stys said."Our operating budget is down from last year ... there's really no room to cut."

After board member Sondra Fechtner called the district's split between tax levies and tuition a "bifurctaed system," noting "it doesn't matter how few students come from Watchung, the tax is the same" while Green Brook residents pay less if fewer students attend, Green Brook board member Gerry Binder responded that "it's not as simple as that."

"I look at it from a different perspective: we send $6 million to the district but have no say in where it goes," he said. He added the township lost nearly $50 million in tax assessments in the recent economic decline, which has impacted the township's taxpayers.

The meeting drew few residents, and only Howard Greenbaum, of Watchung, offered any comment on the budget. Greenbaum said he believes it's important to support the budget, adding that even in years with substantial increases, "We really have never covered the growth in our student body."

"Every year our per-student spending has gone down, which means we're cheating our students," Greenbaum said. "We've managed to keep our grades up ... but how much linger can we keep on doing this?

We managed to create this problem—now we have to get together as a community and fight to see that this budget gets passed," he said.

The board then voted in favor of the budget resolution, with members Robert Horowitz and Peter Falzarano absent.