On March 25, the Passaic Valley (PV) Board of Education introduced the 2008-2009 regional high school budget at $21,073,126. The levy hike, in points and dollars per mean homestead, is as follows: Little Falls: 5.7 points - $99.75 and Totowa: 3 points - $52.50. In West Paterson, the tax is actually decreasing 2.9 points - $50.75 for the mean homestead, according to Paul Gerber, business administrator.

Dr. Viktor Joganow - school superintendent - said the West Paterson levy dip is due to a state scholastic funding calculation.

“It’s a convoluted formula. It’s based on ratables and a whole lot of factors. Those apportionments change from year to year,” he said, about the levy.

PV’s expenditure proposal will go before voters on April 15. Polls are open from 3 to 9 p.m.
Gerber said salaries, utility, and transportation costs are the chief rising overhead factors. The administrator said a couple full time hires are planned. He said no scholastic operations are to be cut or consolidated.

Joganow said a new public speaking theatre art teacher would be hired. He also said another same subject instructor, currently teaching four classes, will move up to full time five class workload. He said the public speaking course’s call has been growing.

Gerber stated next year’s high school population is projected at 1,350, 40 more than at present. He stated the special education roster, so far, is anticipated to remain steady at 137.

Joganow said the enrollment picture could climb due to summertime arrivals. He said one concern is the special education category. He said one student’s needs can cost $50,000 or more, sometimes even over $100,000.

“These are difficult to estimate. You have transfers, who are coming into district, and these are students you can’t budget for,” he said about preliminary spending plans.

Gerber pointed out that the proposed budget designates almost $300,000 for surplus, up about $100,000 from last year. Joganow said the excess fund amount, two percent of the budget, is the maximum allowable under law. The superintendent said the reserve is a thin cushion for any contingencies. He said, besides mid-year incoming students, facility maintenance emergencies crop up.

“We have 17 different roofs on this facility, and virtually all of them need some kind of work. We have boilers in excess of 40 years of age.”

He said no new projects are slated for 2008-2009, due to money constraints. He said he wishes the district could keep a larger surplus for any emergencies.

“I think five percent would be a reasonable number.”
Gerber stated state aid is creeping up $1.49 million, from $1.47 million last year. Joganow said the negligible aid increment falls far short of compensating PV for its growth. He said matriculation has shot up over 30 percent in the past seven years.

Joganow said the state uses a multi-faceted model to calculate the amount of assistance. He said the guidelines include personal income and property wealth, but does not count skyrocketing enrollment.

“Unfortunately, Trenton lacks common sense many times, when it comes to these issues.”
Joganow said scant aid augmentations and rebuffed PV spending plans causes more fiscal pain down the road. He said, the more overhead outpaces revenue, the harder it is to avoid education affecting cuts.

“There’s going to have to be some serious decisions about programming. You can’t continue to have defeated budgets all the time. Passing a budget is critical for the school budget.”

The superintendent said a rejected financial outline, and its mandated trimming, does more harm than good.
“When you cut a budget, the actual savings to the taxpayer is minimal, but you cut a program. Over the years, in PV, we made the cuts in the capital improvement area. That’s going to catch up with you.”

He added that a rejected budget produces an artificially low funding base for the high school.
Meanwhile, Joganow said he believes local taxpayers get their money’s worth at PV. He said PV has the bottom per pupil cost of 12 regional high schools in Essex, Bergen, Morris, and Passaic Counties. He said, that figure is slightly above $11,200, more than $4,500 below the category’s highest; Pascack Valley in Bergen County.

The superintendent added, in the aforementioned group, PV has the second lowest administrative salaries and the third least pricey teacher stipends. He said the high school has the fastest regional student body growth in the county.