Budget 'Guesswork' for West Deptford Board of Education

With Gov. Chris Christie’s budget address looming in six days, and the promise of state aid figures next Thursday, the West Deptford Board of Education and administration are working on a preliminary budget, Superintendent Kevin Kitchenman said Tuesday.

The board went so far as to delay the start of their regular meeting about five minutes, as they were wrapping up a budget session before taking to the public agenda.

Kitchenman said the process is a lot of guesswork ahead of the official release of state aid numbers.

“We have multiple budget scenarios, but it’s all speculative right now,” he said.

Kitchenman said one scenario that’s been talked about is the state cutting aid levels by the same dollar figure that schools received from the federal Education Jobs Fund last fall, something the board has taken into account in one of their potential budgets.

The board is also working with a budget model that takes into account flat funding, and another that tries to anticipate deeper cuts.

It all comes down to the release of the state aid figures next Thursday.

“That will give us a clear idea of what we’re up against,” Kitchenman said.

In the meantime, several changes the district made in the last year have worked in its favor.

The student activity fee, a $50 one-time fee which the district charges for students who take part in extracurricular activities, should bring in between $22,000 and $25,000 this year, with little or no effect on the number of students taking part, Kitchenman said.

There are a few exceptions to the fee, including students who are only involved in a service organization, like Key Club or the National Honor Society.

“The overwhelming majority of students who are in those organizations are also in something else, so they’ve already paid that fee,” Kitchenman said.

The board hasn't made a call on whether that fee will rise for the 2011-12 school year, as it's part of the ongoing budget planning.

The move to grade-level schools, which saved the district about $400,000, has also been “extremely” effective.

“It was initially done for budgetary reasons...but it’s having a number of positive impacts,” Kitchenman said.