Clinton Township Newsletter

CLINTON TOWNSHIP SCHOOL NEWS www.ctsd.k12.nj.us A L e t t e r f r o m Dear Parents and Community Members: Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent of Schools This is the time of year when the Superintendent of Schools, Business Office and Board of Education are beginning the work of putting together the 2014-2015 Clinton Township School Budget. Last year, I put some information on the process in this Newsletter and I wanted to continue sharing this year. It will be a zero-based budget again this year. This means that we start, not with what we have and work up, but with what we need. CTSD has four schools: Spruce Run (PreK-1), Patrick McGaheran (2-3), Round Valley (4-6) and Clinton Township Middle School (7-8). CTSD is a PreK-8 only district. CTSD has a total of 1562 students as of the 10-15-13 count. The students in our community attend a regional high school district that has a separate budget and Superintendent: North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional District and Dr. Charles Shaddow is their Superintendent. Legally, the local tax increase cannot exceed 2% per year without a cap over-ride referendum voted on by the taxpayers. There is no vote on the annual school based budget within the 2% levy cap. What does a 2% budget cap mean? This is often misunderstood. It is not 2% of the total budget, but 2% of the tax levy. So, what is a school budget? It is balancing the needs and priorities of the district, while maintaining fiscal responsibility to the taxpayers. Our fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30. The budget is developed the December-February of the preceding school year. CTSD is currently operating under the 2013-2014 budget and building the 2014-2015 school year budget. How are Clinton Township property taxes distributed? According to the 2013 Township of Clinton Tax Collector: 10.75% goes to the Municipality; 12.58% to the County; 1.25% to County Open Space; 1.26% to the Library; .83% to Clinton Township Open Space; 26.34% to the Regional High School; and 46.99% to the CTSD PreK-8 Schools. Where does your Clinton Township PreK-8 school budget revenue come from? According to the CTSD 13-14 School Budget: 11.03% from State Aid (49.65% of the total State Aid is School Choice Aid); .88% from Surplus; 1.34% from Federal Aid; 1.56% from Tuition; 84.63% from Local Taxes and .56 % of other monies compose the district revenue. Where does the CTSD PreK-8 money go? It is spent on salaries, benefits, out of district tuition, professional services, utilities, repairs and maintenance, transportation, equipment and supplies. How does CTSD build a zero-based budget? There are multiple steps to building a zero-based budget. The first step is to review all required spending. This consists of contracted salaries and benefits, mandated special education spending, mandated professional services (lawyers, architects, auditor), essential building maintenance (custodial supplies and repairs), transportation, mandated insurances, fixed equipment, state mandated testing. This makes up the largest percentage of the of the total 2013-14 CTSD budget. That leaves a small percentage for variable costs. Step 2 of building a zero-based budget requires that we identify variable costs and analyze them through trend analysis to estimate any increases in current costs. Then we review curriculum needs, state mandates, textbook needs, professional development requirements and needs, building equipment, classroom supplies and technology needs as related to age of equipment and curriculum. Over the past years, the state had some expected and unexpected mandates. NJ Schools were required to revise multiple curriculums to align with National and State Standards and this is still requiring additional expenses in professional development and materials. The State also required a complete change in the teacher evaluation system and unexpectedly, moved up the timelines for a new principal evaluation system. Both of these require continued training and support. We are also expecting changes in the State Standardized testing program. All of these things will impact our budget planning this year. The Third Step in the zero-based budget process is to estimate aid and income (revenue other than local taxes). Inclusive in this are State Aid revenues, Surplus (calculated during prior year budget), Federal Aid (calculated on trend analysis 1 4 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com J a n u a r y and projections), Tuition (based on current/expected contracts and trend analysis) and Other (calculated on trend analysis and contracted commitments, inclusive of investment income and building usage). There have been recent concerns expressed regarding how School Choice Aid will continue to be funded. There is a possibility we may see a reduction in School Choice Aid for the 2014-2015 School Budget. Step 4 would be to calculate the tax levy. This is done by adding the Total Required Spending to the Total Variable Costs and the subtracting the Total Revenue Not From Taxes and you get the Local Taxes Needed to Support the Budget. Can you spend more than budgeted? Yes. Additional revenues can be appropriated and spent in the current year. For example: Extraordinary aid. What is extraordinary aid? NJ funds a percentage of special education costs per student in excess of $40K in district and $55K out of district. This money is applied for in January of the current budget and not awarded until May. Therefore, this money can be appropriated and spent in the following year budget. So, it is really a reimbursement for prior year expenditures. Do you accelerate spending at the end of the year? If not, what do you do with any leftover monies? No, we evaluate our spending regularly. We have a tight budget, but if there is money left, we can put it in reserve, move it to surplus or give it back in next year's taxes. What is surplus, excess surplus and reserves? And why does a district need to have a surplus? Surplus is excess revenue over expenses up to 2% of the budget. Excess surplus is surplus over 2% of the total budget. Reserves are the money saved for future needs. A district needs to have a surplus for emergencies. An Important Notice: example would be broken boiler that The Ad Hoc Board of Education needs replacement in February. Committee that is reviewing the possibility of full day kindergarten What is the district planning to will be seeking community input cut from the budget this year? regarding Full Day K. A survey will Since it is still very early in the process, be forthcoming. Please watch the we are still reviewing our options. We district website for information are doing a demographic study because and a public presentation coming we have seen a drop in enrollment and in late January. want to assess trends and the impact on our facilities. This year, as we did last year, we are planning a zero-based budget where the budget is built on the specific needs of the district and not "cuts" on last year's budget. What is the budget calendar? December - The Superintendent and Business Administrator evaluate Principal and Department budget requests. The Board Committees review district needs and the Finance and Facilities Committee assesses feasibility and the Superintendent recommendations; January – BOE assembles preliminary budget; January/February – DOE releases State Aid figures and BOE adopts tentative budget; March – Budget sent to County for approval, Public Hearing; March/April – Meeting with Town Council and Mayor. What happens if the tax levy exceeds the 2% cap? There are 3 options: 1. Cut expenses; 2. Tap into Surplus (the "rainy day fund"). CTSD has $517,433 in current surplus, 2% of the total budget. The State allows and recommends a 2% surplus; or 3. Bring the Cap Over-ride Question to the Voters. A temporary budget would be in place at the 2% cap, until the additional proposal for the increase on the November election date is approved. A voter approved cap over-ride would increase the temporary budget in the current year. Please watch our website for future Budget meetings and presentations. CTSD has many steps left to go in the 2014-2015 budget process and we want our community to be part of it. Let's continue the conversation. Thank you, Dr. Drucilla Clark, Superintendent, Clinton Township School District 2 0 1 4

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