Estimate Board to Approve Montclair Schools Budget

April 8, 2010

The Montclair School District’s $110.5 million budget, which includes more than 80 teacher and staff layoffs and across-the-board cuts to school programs and services, is expected to be approved by the Board of School Estimate tonight.

Mayor Jerry Fried said the five-member board, which he heads and which includes Township Council members Renee Baskerville and Rich Murnick, and Board of Education members Shirley Grill and Shelly Lombard, is poised to cast its final vote on the plan that includes more than $7.1 million in cuts made necessary by the loss of $5.4 million in state edu cation funding.

"The overall levy cap is liable to remain the same," Fried told The Times. "But I’m sure there will be changes within the budget. Some of those concerns will be addressed at the meeting."

While the Board of School Estimate’s anticipated vote of approval may bring an end to the debate over the size of the budget for Montclair’s 11 public schools for the upcoming 2010-2011 academic year, the discussion over how that $110.5 million will be spent may linger.

Fried said that he has chaired a session this week with local groups to find alternative sources of funding for programs slated to be eliminated.

"There are a variety of conversations that are going on between the MFEE (Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence), PTA, parents and the school administration to preserve programs.

"We are working on being able to coordinate volunteers to fill in some of the gaps that are being created," Fried said. "There is a need for community service at this time."

While district officials scramble to find support to save threatened programs, administrators intend to challenge the cuts Gov. Chris Christie imposed when he slashed $819 million in state funding for school districts to close an $11 billion budget gap left behind by Corzine administration.

Schools Superintendent Frank Alvarez said that the district intends host a series of events beginning with a town hall meeting with state Sen. Nia Gill (D-34th Dist.) in the next two weeks to give municipal officials, school board members and residents an opportunity to express their concerns about the impact of the Christie administration’s budget cu ts.

"It important for our elected representatives in the state Legislature to understand what we face before they vote on the state budget in April," Alvarez told The Times following a Board of School Estimate budget hearing a week ago.

Alvarez said the school board is considering other moves, including joining other districts in a legal challenge to the cuts in state funding, and urging residents to sign a petition and join in a letter-writing campaign demanding the funding be restored.

Alvarez disclosed that he and other district officials were briefly met with Christie and state Education Commissioner Bret Schundler when they visited Montclair High School on March 30.

During their two-hour visit that included a meeting with MHS civics students, Christie and Schundler commended the members of the Montclair Education Association for their landmark agreement to freeze teacher’s top salaries to save some spending and avert additional teacher layoffs.

"The governor shared with us his vision, and we shared our thoughts with him," Alvarez told The Times. "It wasn’t always positive and we didn’t always agree, but it was a productive exchange."

Alvarez described the meeting as "a rare opportunity for us on the local level to talk with the two top policymakers.

"I have to say they were genuinely listening to us." Alvarez said. "Our overture to them was that even where we disagree, we’d like to be at the table and be part of constructing a solution for the future."
If something gives and D.C. teachers take Rhee’s deal, Washington could become a model for the natio n, pushing policy makers to seize the crucial hiring and firing privilege from the iron grasp of the teachers unions. If the unions turn Rhee down, or if she or her successor settles for a lesser compromise, the possibility for real, revolutionary change may be lost.