Buena Regional,
towns prepare to cut budget 4/28/06
BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP —
For the fifth time in as many years, the Buena Regional School budget will go
back to the cutting block after voters defeated it at the polls.
In past years, the municipal councils have asked the school district to remove
between $500,000 and $700,000 from the budget, which this year was a proposed
$30 million.
The district and councils are trying to find a meeting date in the near future
to decide on further cuts, with several officials saying that sooner is better
than later.
The municipal bodies will decide how much money should be reduced, and the
district's officials along with Atlantic County school officials will pare down
specific programs to meet that figure, Superintendent Diane DeGiacomo said.
“The county will tell us that anything that's considered to be nonessential will
be the first items to go,” she said in an interview Thursday. Possibilities
include freshman athletics, teachers' aides or courtesy busing services.
In the state's 31 Abbott, or special needs districts, similar programs are
funded by the state. This year, Vineland and Millville got an additional $47
million and $28 million in funding.
DeGiacomo said she hopes to get positive news Wednesday when the state
Department of Education could release a long-awaited assessment of several
school districts that were recently named by the state Supreme Court as having
special financial needs.
Earlier in the year, the state sought a 90-day extension for the assessments of
the districts.
“It's not a meeting where any money will be given out,” DeGiacomo said.
“Anything like that is still far down the road.”
Budget cuts in past years have directly affected Buena Regional students, said
Business Administrator Tom Kearney, including fourteen vacated teaching and
counseling positions not being replaced, middle school athletics being cut and
old textbooks not being renewed.
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Mayors must cut the
Buena school budget 4/26/06
For complete details go to:
www.thedailyjournal.com
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Voters defeat Buena Regional budget for 5th straight time 4/19/06
BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP — Voters defeated the $30 million Buena
Regional school budget by a 162-vote margin Tuesday, making this the fifth
straight time voters rejected the school's yearly financial plan.
Meanwhile, Brett Aretz and incumbents Barbara Caselli and Lynda Gazzara won
seats on the school board, with 471, 473, and 456 votes respectively in Buena
Vista Township, according to the clerk. All three ran unchallenged. Results from
Buena Borough were not received by deadline.
The final count between both municipalities for the budget question was 683
against and 521 in favor, according to the Township Clerk Office.
The budget proposes that taxes in Buena Vista Township go up 42 cents per $100
of assessed value and Buena Borough's taxes could see a 35-cent increase. Now
that it was defeated, it will go back to the municipalities for further cutting.
Last year, the budget was reduced about $430,000 after the voters didn't approve
it, Superintendent Diane DeGiacomo said in a recent interview.
The school system has been struggling financially over the past several years,
mostly because of flat state funding for districts not designated as Abbott, or
special-needs, districts.
Earlier in the month, district officials were asking voters to hold out one more
year with the financial strains. They're referring to a recent court ruling that
said Buena Regional should receive the extra funds entitled to those districts
considered as having special needs.
But so far, no money has come. The state Department of Education recently
applied for a 90-day extension to review Buena Regional and several other
districts' cases.
The result of flat funding and a lack of needed special aid, DeGiacomo said in a
recent interview, is that programs and personnel aren't being replaced and that
taxes are going up.
Eleven teachers who left their jobs for various reasons haven't been replaced,
she said, along with two guidance counselors.
Initially, the budget question was broken into two sections, asking taxpayers
separately about funding expenses not mandated by the state, such as sports,
clubs, libraries and classroom aides.
But in late March the questions were combined into one, according to school
board President David Anderson, for reasons of simplicity.
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Election:
Buena Reg. voters shoot down budget again 4/19/06
Voters rejected the Buena Regional School District's Budget
proposal for the fifth year in a row. The vote was 683 to 521.
For complete details go to:
www.thedailyjournal.com
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School Election Results 4/19/06
BUENA REGIONAL
Buena Borough
no vacancies
Buena Vista Township
Three three-year terms
Barbara Caselli* 473**
Brett Aretz 471**
Lynda Gazzara* 456**
**Do not include Buena totals
Tax levy: $12,057,236
Tax rate change:
Buena Borough: 15.85%
Buena Vista Township: 17.18%
Yes 521
No 683
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Much at stake
when polls open this afternoon 4/18/06
Voters will decide on a $30 million school budget and three
school board candidates in Buena Vista.
For complete details go to:
www.thedailyjournal.com
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Proposed Tax Hikes Cause Stir
4/17/06
Gov. Jon S. Corzine announced a state budget plan including $1.5
billion in new taxes, school boards across ;the state this week will ask voters
to approve property tax levies that would rise an average of nearly 8 percent.
For complete details go to:
www.thedailyjournal.com
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Prom ticket comes with a
warning, too 4/4/06
School Principal Ken Soboloski sent parents a letter stating
their attendance at a pre-prom meeting was required before their children could
buy a ticket.
For complete details go to:
www.thedailyjournal.com
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Program teaches
local teens about facts of life 4/4/06
Teen Choice program at Buena Regional High School is coordinated
by Kathy Bress, a social worker at the high school. They teach students
about pregnancy prevention, sexually transmitted infections, HIV and AIDS.
For complete details go to:
www.thedailyjournal.com
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Buena Regional opposes
charter school 4/1/06
BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP — The Buena Regional School District asked
the state Department of Education to reconsider its approval of a charter school
in Corbin City.
School district officials said the charter school has the potential to take away
tuition money that is generated by students who are bused in from Estell Manor
and Weymouth Township.
That money, school officials said, has become more crucial as the district faces
a budget crunch, a result of flat state funding for four of the past five years
and rising expenses. One of the effects of the budget crunch was that the
district
hasn't filled at least 11 vacant teaching positions.
Superintendent Diane DeGiacomo also said the state never included the district
in a study that would partially gauge the economic impact of a charter school on
Buena Regional.
The first day of school for Benchmark Academy Charter High School is set for
Sept. 5, said founder Kathryn Schoonfield.
She recently held information and enrollment sessions for the school, which will
have 75 students per grade and will focus on preparing students to enter
college.
“The numbers of students we have enrolled from (Weymouth and Estell Manor)
aren't devastating Buena,” Schoonfield said.
Buena Regional Business Administrator Tom Kearney said an average of 30 students
from Weymouth and 35 from Estell Manor for each grade attend Buena Regional High
School. Those students are charged about $8,333 in tuition, he said.
Schoonfield said the state could decide in the next few weeks. But she was
unsure what a ruling against the charter school could do.
Department of Education spokesman Richard Vespucci said the state will not
speculate on the results.
“Any next steps in any direction will come from our response,” he said.
When asked if Buena Regional was included in a review of the charter school's
possible effects on the district, he said, “again, any further details about
what might have transpired here will come out of whatever response is made to
the request for reconsideration.”
For Schoonfield, opening the charter school is simply about student choice.
“Some students go to Buena Regional and excel,” she said. “Some others get lost.
Choosing a school all depends on a student's needs.”
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