2023 BHPSNJ Budget Pre-Meeting Wrap Up

Overview of Snap Shots and Where We Can Go From Here

So I covered several areas that would be important to families, teachers, and principals to the best of my ability.

The first item comes down to very big questions on the Benefits account that Sai brought to the public’s attention. We possess the documentation (through OPRA) other Districts used to justify increases in this area, and when compared to our District, it was night and day (we will be writing on this later). Sai discovered that the medical benefits account was being used as a feeder account where ~1.2 million dollars were funneled into other lines, and as Natasha pointed out today:

“One other interesting item that struck me is a 250k reduction in the benefits account 11-000-291-270. The same account that Sai wrote about. Given that there have been 600k in transfers for two years, it means we really have no idea what that budget item really means. And now, $250k has been cut. I’m not sure where the headcount stands between teachers being cut in the first version vs reinstatements and resignations/retirements in this version. But based on historical transfers, seems like there’s still a sizable amount that’s left to play with.”

We tied an analysis of recently published data on rankings and ratings to per pupil costs and comparison on other Districts- including Westfield, which was mentioned as a fair comparison by a BOE member. This comparison demonstrated a much higher per-pupil cost with far worse results when compared to these Districts. This was a piece of evidence that the issue with the District had little to do with revenue and perhaps more to do with how it was used. 

We challenged the narrative that the increase in teachers’ salaries was why the District was facing a “fiscal cliff” when the reality appeared that our teacher’s salaries were lower compared to other Districts in the area. With the increase and all other District salaries remaining the same, we would be in the middle of the pack.

We challenged the narrative that the needs of our Special Education population were the reason for the “fiscal cliff” by pointing out that while in the top tier of spending (based on the best indicators I can find), we were not that out of the norm, and it in no way explained the massive differences in per-pupil cost when compared to better-performing Districts in our area.

We pointed to data demonstrating that we are very top-heavy compared to these same Districts. We seem to have more administrators per student and more administrators per teacher than any other District. We also demonstrated the significant increases in spending on actuals but what appeared to be inconsistencies in budgeted amounts.

There are big questions on legal expenses that remain unanswered and they became larger when comparing the advertised budget to the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.

Throughout the year we put a stake through the heart on the argument that OPRA requests were driving us to the fiscal cliff, Dr. Varley citing “250k” in expenses if we did not hire an OPRA Custodian. We pointed out the actual number of requests and comparisons to the municipal body. We also never received a clear answer from the Business Manager on how we arrived at this 250k figure. The real answer, I strongly suspect, is the over-use of attorneys in doing the job our Business Administrator should be doing to delay documents they know would lead to more questions and are now the subject of litigation.

All these “little” amounts add to very big numbers.

It is a good thing that we won’t lose teachers with this budget as initially thought, but one has to wonder whether we ever really needed to lose teachers in the first place.

If so, it was a poor first product to give the public and the Board. If not, it can be seen as a cynical ploy to distract from the fundamental problems.

The budget will likely get passed tonight, but that isn’t a cause for celebration given our rankings, per pupil cost, and lack of response to some fundamental issues. The budget passing is not the win here. The success would be taking what we’ve learned over the last two years and changing how we do business.

After this meeting, the Board and District Administration must work on fundamentally repairing our District instead of fighting families and staff with PR campaigns or political maneuvering that keeps backfiring, leading to more legal problems. There needs to be a more inclusive process that drives the budgeting process – because the budget manifests our priorities. Accurate indicators on problem areas must be developed and tracked with valid instruments to increase public confidence. The District needs to move away from “the experts at the top know best” and give more priority to what families, teachers, and principals have to say.

Substack Snapshots related to this article: 

04/27/2023 Post on Legal Spending

04/25/2023 Post on Administrative Costs

04/24/2023 Post on Ratings, Support Services and State Aid

04/23/2023 Note on Median Salaries

04/24/2023 Follow up on Median Salaries

04/25/2023 Snap Shot on in-class Instruction

04/23/2023 Post on Ratings and Rankings

04/16/2023 Post on Health Benefit Transfers and Adjustment