NJ21st sent our second question to the BOE Candidates today with responses due on 10/04/2024:
The Board, with a new majority, took significant steps this year in opening up the budget process to the community. Tentative budgets were made available without the need to use OPRA, and additional public meetings connected to the Budget process were made available before the Board’s approval.
However, concerns about how dollars are being spent remain a concern.
The proposed budget for this year included a ~60,000 increase in security measures that actually demonstrate no benefit and may potentially increase harm to school environments. More recently, the Board discussed adding another layer with a potential card scanner that does not address any identified problem with Administration citing “other Districts are doing it” as a reason.
We also spend more per pupil than comparable Districts on athletics and significantly more per pupil on Administration while enrollment declines and proficiency – while improving- remains problematic.
Please share your thoughts on whether you feel the district budget is aligned with the community’s priorities and what you believe the district can do in the future to align the dollars further with the objectives.
Responses to Question 1 (Transparency) were made available this week.
NJ21st received responses from Dr. Foregger, Matthew Behne, and Arik Samson.
We did not receive responses from Ruth Debang, David Moore, George Devanney, Pamela Stanley and Deb Terrero.
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