The Medford Township Public School District is continuing to rebuild and sustain for the future after its budget cuts of six years ago with the addition of teachers and projects in its 2015–2016 budget.
The Board of Education passed the 2015–2016 tentative budget on first reading at last week’s meeting. The public hearing and second reading of the budget are scheduled for April 27.
The budget includes an $82.49 annual increase for the average assessed home of $327,915.
District business administrator Chad Fires said the budget has the third lowest tax impact in the last eight years. This year’s proposed tax increase is much smaller than the $154.10 increase residents had on their local school tax bill last year. The district received $4.7 million in state funding, the same it received last year.
The district is looking to continue to bring back teaching positions lost in the 2009–10 budget cuts.
“What I’m talking about is maintaining our programs for the future,” Superintendent Joseph J. Del Rossi said.
The budget includes three new elementary related arts positions. A band teacher plans to be implemented into the fifth grade, moving a current one to the fourth grade. The district will also bring on four new positions in special education.
Enrollment from 2014–2015 has decreased from 2,740 to 2,623, losing 117 students and three staff members.
“We need to maintain optimal class size,” Del Rossi said. “As enrollment goes does, cost of administration goes up.”
One of the larger expenditures this year is a 10 percent increase in medical benefits.
Other targeted projects for the future include improvements to a field hockey and lacrosse field behind Medford Memorial Middle School and a greenhouse at Cranberry Pines School.
In other news:
• The Medford Memorial Middle School boys’ basketball team was honored for its championship-winning season. It was given certificates and applauded by parents for its achievements. The team managers were also recognized for their dedicated contributions to the team.
• The school district released its HIB numbers for the first half of the 2014–15 school year. Gale Ferraro, the district’s anti-bullying coordinator, said there were seven harassment, bullying and intimidation investigations from July through December 2014. Two of the investigations were confirmed incidents.
Ferraro noted that students have reported occurrences of bullying more often than parents on account of being increasingly comfortable doing so.
“It’s the programs we have in place already and the fact that we take our investigations seriously,” Ferraro said.
The seven investigations were all instances of teasing or crude comments, with no aggressive physical behavior sighted.
• The next Medford Township School District board of education meeting is scheduled for April 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Medford Memorial Middle School.
