James, something doesn’t make sense here: When the Ridgewood teacher contract was approved last October, it put the district $2.5 million over the 2% property tax cap during the life of the three-year contract for teacher salaries alone which grow over 2.7% in year two and three of the contract and over 2.13% for the life of the contract. At the time Sheila Brogan explained that the amount was still above the 2% cap, necessitating certain cuts to be made to programs and personnel to make the district cap compliant and that the challenge of funding the contract “will require budgetary reductions next year that will result in changes to staffing and programming.” So what happened? This budget is a $4 million YoY INCREASE in spending. How is that a sign that the BOE has worked closely with Superintendent Fishbein to identify reductions that will have the least impact on the instructional programs and extra-curricular offerings? Looks like this budget adds to the budget above and beyond the $2.5 million three year excess just for teacher salaries under the new contract, how does this make any sense? Let’s hope this budget is voted down. It’s all about teacher salaries, not about our kids.
