Going Over Fiscal Cliff Could Cut West Deptford School Programs
Fearful of layoffs and slashed extracurricular activities, the school board asks Congress to amend the Federal Budget Control Act of 2011 to avoid losing funding.
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With the threat of the federal government reaching the "fiscal cliff" looming in just about a month, concern is growing for the West Deptford School District.
On Monday night, the West Deptford Board of Education, joining school boards across New Jersey, approved a resolution asking Congress to amend the Federal Budget Control Act of 2011. The resolution addresses concerns that New Jersey will see a large chunk of money cut from education funding if Congress doesn't act by Jan. 2, 2013.
“We really wanted to push that out there to prepare ourselves for if we do hit that so-called fiscal cliff,” board President Christopher Strano said. “There's a lot of monies that we depend on that will stop.”
The resolution notes the cuts to the education budget, or “sequestration,” would halt many programs in school districts, including West Deptford. It specifically references that sequestration would lead to “larger classes sizes, fewer course offerings, possibly four-day schools weeks, loss of extracurricular activities and teacher and staff layoffs.”
According to the resolution, New Jersey schools would be adversely affected by budget cuts. The resolution cites the state as having the smallest percentage of school expenditures supported by the federal government at 3.1 percent.
Such a budget reduction would really hit home if the country reaches the fiscal cliff on Jan. 2. Strano noted that West Deptford School District would have to stop many extracurricular activities simply due to a lack of money.
“This is more of a safety net,” said Strano. “If a lot of this money stops and the government's going to stop, a lot of the money that we have committed to these programs is not going to be there.”
For more coverage of the Nov. 26 West Deptford school board meeting, see Huge Changes Coming to Math Classes in WD Schools.
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putinperspective
6:13 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Here is a prime example of why, as a country as a whole, we are broke. Our concern is middle school extracurricular activies. Many of us went to this Middle school when we were younger and there were not extracurricular programs. The ages that you go to middle school, you are still eligible for youth programs in town. As a country, not just West Deptford, we have this hunger for our children to be involved in all kinds of extra activites, why?????? I haven't seen the positive change everyone talks about. They are just more programs we all get use to and when there is no money, we here the cry that the world is ending.
No where did I say here, before you pile on, that WD Middle school is the reason for us being broke, just an example of why we are. Put all these little extra programs together across multiple disciplines and all 50 states and the next thing you know..........we are a couple trillion in debt
AllTaxedOut
8:57 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
This can only mean a tsunami of tax hikes for the residents and small business owners of WD at both the local AND state levels; after we all go over the cliff, who will be able to pay any of it??? Will the last one to leave WD please turn off the lights...
Tom Stanton
9:00 am on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Aside from all of the other wasteful spending that our federal government practices, where in the Constitution does it say that the federal government has the right to be involved in education and provide funding for extracurricular activities for the children?
Here is a grand thought... Less taxes will put more money in the pockets of the tax payer. The more responsible than government tax payer will be able to have more control over their money. The local tax payer with more money in their pocket will be able to fund the important items in their community. It is impossible for the federal government to know what is best for West Deptford. If the federal government stays out of our pockets, we would not have to rely on the money to find its way back to our community after going through the federal redistribution system.
Jillian Jenkins
3:35 pm on Tuesday, November 27, 2012
I agree 100% with Tom Stanton. Nice work Chris, I'm sure that the US Congress was standing by waiting to hear from the WD school board president. If we lose out of any federal aid I think you should ask your buddy Denny Forte to reach into his campaign account and help you out. His cofers must be filled after the enormous contributions from Mark Cimino.
Walter Frockmorton
10:23 pm on Thursday, November 29, 2012
You could get a bigger pile of money from the law firm that has been handling the Sunoco case for the last 25 years. They really socked it to the township. Golly, the amount the township paid them would have covered the settlement, and then some. Remember Jillian, you have an apple in one hand, and an orange in the other. No comparison.
lookingahead
7:09 am on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Jillian, how could you possibly turn this conversation into stupid local political talk???? Don't worry, I am sure your husband could find a job in the private sector somewhere or you could ask your buddy Angelini who racked up millions from the township residents for over 16 years to help you out.
You are a disgusting individual Jillian and surely not a product of our fine school system, go back to where you came from!