Board of Education OKs $75M budget, cuts 22 jobs

The West Milford Board of Education approved a $75 million budget for the 2023-24 school year and cut about 22 jobs at its meeting May 2.

The vote was 8-1 with board member Teresa Dwyer voting no.

Among the positions cut were 15 teachers, two media specialists, two cafeteria aides, a guidance counselor and a nurse.

Funding for athletics, clubs, supplies and professional development also was reduced.

”We spread these cuts out as balanced as we could across the board so pretty much every group, pretty much every school, pretty much every level is affected by these cuts,” said Superintendent Alex Anemone said.

There are no cuts in the district’s central office for 2023-24 because the administration tries to cut in different areas each year, he said. There were cuts in the central office in the previous two budgets.

The total tax levy for 2023-24 is about $62.4 million. The increase in the local tax levy is about 4.48 percent from last year.

Owners of a home assessed at the township average of $242,700 will pay $235.44 more this year than last year.

’Fiscally responsive’

Anemone said the budget approved was not very different from the one presented in March.

He called it a “fiscally responsive budget” that was adjusted to escalating costs in contracted transportation, health insurance and energy.

State aid to the West Milford district has declined steadily in the past six years, he pointed out. About a quarter of the budget came from state aid in 2008-09 compared with about 7.5 percent in 2023-24.

While state aid was cut by about $1.2 million for 2023-24 from a year earlier, West Milford applied for and received $788,110 in a Supplemental Stabilization Grant from the state Department of Education. That was a one-time grant and is not meant to be used for items that the district must fund annually, Anemone said.

Planned capital projects include bleachers at the high school’s Kilgallen Field; tennis court lights, door replacements, and cafeteria and kitchen renovations at Macopin Middle School; and windows, door replacements, a septic field and a generator at Upper Greenwood Lake Elementary School.

In comments on the budget, Dwyer said she opposed the spending plan because the decision to close Westbrook School and redistrict elementary students was unfair and the savings was minimal.

The administration failed to consider class sizes at the high school in deciding to cut a math teacher and an English Language Arts teacher while continuing elective courses with fewer than 12 students, she noted.

In addition, by cutting those positions, administrators neglected the support that media specialists at the middle and high schools provide to students, she said.

Board member William Cytowicz said he supported the budget, not because he is happy with it, but because it could result in a more efficient school district.

He gave a long account of the district’s recent history of falling enrollment and changes of leadership. Anemone told the board in March that he is leaving for a new position after six years as superintendent.

The board approved a $10,000 contract with an educational consultant to conduct a search for a new superintendent.

The board also approved the retirement of high school social studies teacher Claudia Ney, effective July 1.

Board president Kate Romeo praised Ney for teaching students how to handle real-life situations and for being her mentor. Other board members also praised her and wished her well in retirement.