Cranbury School to Get Unanticipated State Aid

The Cranbury Board of Education announced that the township has been allocated $176,258 in state aid for the 2011-12 school year.

 According to Business Administrator Joyce Picariello, the aid figure, while less than the $769,000 the township had received in 2009-10, is exciting because “it’s a number other than zero.”

Last year, the district had been expecting $859,000, but was informed midway through the year that the aid was being rescinded.

“We were actually planning for no state aid, so this does help us to build the kind of budget that we really need to build,” she said. “While it’s not a lot of dollars, it certainly is something.”

Specific details regarding the budget will be on the agenda for the board’s Tuesday, Mar. 22 meeting, where Picariello says the public is welcome to go through the figures “line by line.” The district is looking at a $17,706,734 budget, which is approximately $500,000 less than last year.

Since January’s public hearing on the budget, it has become clear to the board that keeping class sizes small is a major concern for Cranbury School’s parents. In light of these concerns, Interim Chief School Administrator Carol Malouf has reworked aspects of the budget to allow for three sessions of first grade next year.

President Lynne Schwarz also announced that the board’s preference is to have fewer than 30 children in each section of kindergarten. The 2011-12 budget allows for two 25-student kindergarten sections.

Malouf, who was absent from the last meeting, sent a statement to President Schwarz stating her belief that the 2011-12 budget will successfully serve the Cranbury school community.

“She believes that the budget allows the district to continue to provide quality education for all students while at the same time being mindful of the taxpayer,” Schwarz said, paraphrasing Malouf’s note.

Schwarz also explained that the budget must be sent to Middlesex County for review prior to being presented to the public.

The budget voting date is Apr. 27. Once the budget is voted on, the board of education can no longer make additional changes. Should the budget not pass, it will then be given to the township committee for retooling.