The 2006-2007 Budget

Dear Doctor Kazmark,

The 2006-2007 budget was discussed at the Board of Education Meeting on March 27, 2006. At that meeting you advised, in response to Mr. Dieckamp’s question about the tuition charged to Boonton Township students, “that the costs at the high school will go up no more than 3% and the increase being charged to Boonton Township is 3%.” However, the per pupil costs for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years are $16,672 and $18,221 respectively. That is a 9% year to year increase. Can you explain this discrepancy?
The advertised per pupil cost calculations for the 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 school years are $16,672 and $18,221 respectively. The difference is $1,549. If you divide that amount by the 2005-2006 per pupil cost, the result is 9%.
I do not think that such a large discrepancy (3% versus 9%) can be explained away by increases in the Lake Drive budget. Lake Drive students are 5.5% of the total student population.

Respectfully submitted,
Joseph J. Hehir
Mountain Lakes, NJ

The Mountain Lakes Board of Education Meeting

Four taxpayers and I attended the Mountain Lakes Board of Education meeting on March 24, to listen to the 2008-2009 budget presentation. Some would say when only five taxpayers out of 1,400 families attend a budget meeting that there is a small amount of apathy around. In defense of this seemingly lack of interest, let me explain some of the circumstances leading up to it. The meeting was scheduled long in advance for March 24th. Without much notice, the superintendent decided that there would be no school that day, turning Easter weekend into a four-day vacation, and Mountain Lakes into a ghost town. The budget meeting at 7:30 PM was scheduled for when families were returning from their long weekend, so not too many showed up. In addition, those who did come could not review the budget beforehand because the superintendent’s office was closed that day also. Further, the meeting was at the same time the Borough Council was presenting the 2008 municipal budget.
Was this foul up by design or just a coincidence?