WEST MILFORD At just under $65 million, the proposed 2007-08 school budget is up by close to three and a half million more dollars than last year. The board of education has begun the laborious process of looking for ways to trim the number before it goes before the public for approval in April. Business Administrator Steven Cea said insurance costs namely health benefits for district employees are “the big culprit.” In addition, the district will now pay 20 percent of its pensions, which used to be funded entirely by the state. Other reasons listed for the increase are salary settlements, out-of-district tuition and transportation, and more students classified for special education and support. What this means to taxpayers is unclear as of yet, since the state hasn’t finished its budget process and local districts do not know how much aid they will get. The board will host several presentations to the public to explain the budget and answer questions. Board President Midge Touw also asked that any group that would like to have a presentation should contact the board office to become part of the schedule. School resource officer For the past several years, there has been a school resource officer from the police department full time at both the high school and the middle school. The police department had been providing them at no cost to the district. This year there isn’t one. According to Police Chief Paul Costello, the problem is a contractual one. He has said in the past that he cannot force officers to take that duty, and any officer who does has their overtime affected. Several members of the board met this week with some members of the town council and the police chief to see if they could work out an agreement. Touw, one of the attendees, reported to the board that so far, nothing had come of it. But the group will meet again Tuesday (January 23) evening prior to the board session. She said that Costello said he would need four more full time officers on his staff in order to provide police to the school and he doesn’t have enough money in his budget to pay them. Touw said she believed that a compromise was possiblethat the officer who is scheduled to patrol the area in which the high school lies could cover his territory by answering any calls from the high school. Costello, reported Touw, wasn’t sure about that idea since that territory reaches all the way to the border of Kinnelon. One of the drawbacks is that it would be a different officer in the school every day. The school resource officers were there every day and knew most of the students by name. If the police were to go along with Touw’s plan, the officers would simply be considered security and wouldn’t have to go through special training. Student ID badges While on the topic of security, Touw asked the board to think about issuing high school students identification badges that they would wear in school. Many high schools now have mandatory school-issued IDs that must be carried by the students whenever they are in the building. “When the buses are dropping off the kids in the morning, there is so much chaos, anyone could walk in that doesn’t belong there.” The rest of the board didn’t respond to the idea one way or the other, but Touw said in a later interview that she intended to pursue the idea, citing safety. “Super super” On January 22, the state legislature will vote on bill S10, part of its special session on property taxes. Board Member Wayne Gottlieb brought the bill to the attention of the board because he strenuously objected to a portion of the bill that would create an executive county superintendent position that would take the place of the county superintendent. Nicknamed the “super super,” the position would come with the power to veto decisionsparticularly budgetmade on the local level. The super super would be appointed by the governor. This, said Gottlieb, means it is a political appointment and will lead to “partisan scalp hunting ... and will be a recipe for partisan mischief.” “This goes against the concept that the local board of education mediate between the public’s concerns and the school administration,” said Gottlieb “It would mean that power would be taken away from everyone [on the local level],’ said Board Member Barbara Harlin. Gottlieb asked board members to call the legislature to voice disapproval. According to the bill, the executive superintendent would report to the state board of education and would have his/her performances assessed by the state commissioner of education.