School Board Discusses Decreased Enrollment, State Aid During Budget Meeting

Student enrollment in the Brick Township school district is expected to decline by 183 students by September 2011, school officials estimate.

James Edwards, the district's business administrator, said at a special budget meeting Tuesday that enrollment is expected to decline from 10,084 students during the 2010-11 school to 9,901 for the 2011-12 school year.

The analysis of the number of students the district will be charged with educating next school year came as part of a meeting the Board of Education used to kick off a slew of public forums that will be dedicated to formulating the district's 2011-12 budget. The district will host five public meetings during the month of March, in addition to its regular meeting March 24, to discuss the budget and go through its adoption process.

"These public forums will be different than regular board meetings," said board vice president Michael Pifko. Between them, members of the public will have 10 hours to comment on the spending plan as it is developed, Pifko said.

Edwards said his list of expenditures is about 95 percent complete, though he will not be able to fill in the blanks on the revenue side until state aid figures are released Feb. 22. State aid accounted for 24 percent of the district's operating budget during the 2010-11 school year, but state officials have indicated that cuts to aid may be on the horizon for the upcoming budget.

"The whole state is bracing for a reduction of state aid," Edwards said.

Edwards wouldn't speculate on how much of a cut, if any, was expected. A five percent cut in aid would amount to $1.6 million, he said. Last year, the district suffered a 15 percent cut to the tune of $6.8 million, he said.

Until the figures on state aid are in, the budget cannot be finalized, though Edwards left the door open for a discussion on a reduction in force due to the forecast drop in enrollment.

"Obviously, when you don’t have as many kids, you don’t need as many staff," said Edwards. "We have to make those refinements in the budget."

The school board must adopt a tentative budget Feb. 24, two days after the state aid figures are released, though the budget can be modified and reworked until March 29, when the board is set to adopt the final budget proposal. The tax levy to support that proposed budget will go to the voters for approval April 27.

The board scheduled the following meetings to be held on the budget:

• March 1, 7 p.m., Veterans Memorial Middle School, adoption of tentative budget.
• March 8, 7 p.m., Lake Riviera Middle School, public budget forum.
• March 15, 7 p.m., Brick Memorial High School auditorium, public budget forum.
• March 22, 7 p.m., Brick Township High School library, public budget forum.
• March 24, 7 p.m., Veterans Memorial Middle School, regular board meeting.
• March 29, 7 p.m., Veterans Memorial Middle School, public hearing and adoption of final proposed budget.