At its latest public session, Cherry Hill’s board of education approved a preliminary budget for the 2020-2021 academic year that will include a significant tax increase.
During that virtual meeting on April 28, the board unanimously signed off on a plan that includes a total base budget of $221,296,778, comprised chiefly of $216,574,257 within the general fund. The majority of the general fund amount will arrive through a local tax levy totaling $182,404,621, roughly $5.7 million more than in the 2019-2020 budget.
Although township residents were able to breathe a bit easier last year thanks to a tax decrease of $4.86, this year’s taxes are set to increase by 3.27 percent. That means for an average assessed home value in the township of $225,000, residents can expect an uptick of $164.59 in property taxes.
Included in the budget is an increase in state aid totaling nearly $3.5 million, a bump of almost 45 percent over the previous year, to almost $11.3 million.
A comprehensive breakdown of facts and figures included in the budget can be found at: https://www.chclc.org/domain/976.
During his customary comment period, school Superintendent Joseph Meloche reiterated his commitment to celebrating all moving-up or graduation ceremonies in some fashion as the future and mode of school instruction remain up in the air.
“This is certainly a unique year as we prepare for the end and for the celebrations for our children throughout the different grade levels,” he stated. “We are committed to the class of 2020. We will celebrate them and honor them at the end of the year; however, we are at the mercy of the governor and directives we have from the state.
“We will try and have a virtual ceremony and we will be able to confer diplomas, and if we can do it in person, we will try to do that,” Meloche added.
The superintendent also offered blanket praise for the entire support system that has kept students engaged as distance learning has been extended through at least mid-May.
“I can’t imagine the challenge of having smaller children at home, so a huge thank you to the families for all you do and to work interactively with teachers so they are fully supported,” he said.
“These 11,000 children whom we are entrusted with on a daily basis, I am thankful for all of what they do; they are articulate and honest, and provide valuable and authentic feedback on what is working for them, and they’ve focused on learning,” Meloche added.
“Remember, thank a teacher, thank a librarian, the nurses, counselors and the principals for the jobs that they continue to do.”
In other news:
- The board approved a motion to use $3.005 million from the district’s Capital Reserve Fund for four projects in the coming academic year: $1.295 million for district-wide security cameras, $635K for district-wide swipe-card access, $575K for a security vestibule at Beck Middle School and $500K toward ADA Compliance Accessibility throughout the district.
- A revised 2020-2021 school calendar was also given unanimous consent.
