Hope Township School

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Co-Chairmen Senator Adler and Assemblyman Conaway, and members of the Joint Legislative Committee on School Funding Reform, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. I am Alfred Annunziata, Superintendent and Principal of Hope Township School District in rural Warren County. Hope School is a small, successful, Prek-8 school that supports high student achievement levels, innovative and effective student programs including a general education preschool available to all Hope students, ages 3 and 4. Our school is highly regarded in Hope Township and within the educational community. Hope School District is also a member of a sending-receiving relationship with Belvidere High School, where most of our 9-12 graders attend on a tuition basis which is included in our modest 4 million dollar budget.

Unintended consequences and circumstances have lead to my testimony here today. The unintended consequences from S1701legislation, the circumstances of flat state funding for at least the past 7 years, and the residential and rural composition of the Hope community taxpayers, have contributed to a financial crisis for our school district. During the past several years we have been able to delay the impact of this crisis and minimize the negative impact on student programs and services for 2004-05 and 2005-06 through our many innovative and frugal financial efforts and with some good fortune. Now, though, our resources and good fortune have run out.

We are now at the point of realization concerning the cumulative effects of S1701 on our school budgets. The required reduction of surplus to 2% and the mandated return of the surplus for the 2005-06 budget have setup subsequent budgets that expect the property taxpayer to match funding for the original contribution. The reduced level of surplus is also very problematic in light of our unanticipated need for special education services during the past 3 months. For next year the reduced availability of bank cap will also hinder our 2007-08 budget development process. We did not apply bank cap for 2006-07 due to cuts that reduced the budget below the need for the banked cap. Our two full time administrators already carry multiple job responsibilities. For example, as a cost saving measure I simultaneously serve in three independently challenging positions: Superintendent, Principal, and Director of Special Services – for one fair salary and pension, I might add. Furthermore, the inclusion of legal and architectural fees in the administrative budget lines is prohibitive. Historically our district employs an attorney and architect sparingly. However recent circumstances have dictated an increase in services. From January 2004 to December of 2005 we experienced protracted negotiations and enlisted our attorney as lead negotiator to assist in approving a conservative contract settlement. We also have had building projects and litigation of a building structural issue that required the contraction of an attorney and our architect since 2004. These circumstances have inflated our administrative budget line and may continue throughout this year.

To make matters worse, the flat state funding issue is illustrated on my attached bar graph for your review. As you can see, essentially flat state funding over the past 7 years has generated a cumulative effect on subsequent budgets - all of which have been significantly under cap. Our recent budget history includes: 2002-03, 3 cent increase – passed; 2003-04, 8 cent increase – passed; 2004-05, 6 cent increase failed by 9 votes; 2005-06, 17 cent increase – failed by 80 votes; 2006-07, 18 cent increase - failed by 85 votes. The larger increases in 2005-06 and 2006-07 were products primarily of the cumulative effect of flat state funding and fixed cost increases from: out of district special needs placements – currently in excess of $360,000 for six students, increases in our receiving high school tuition and enrollment, the county technical school’s decision to charge tuition, increased health care premiums (SHBP increased 150% in past 5 years!), and fair, negotiated cost of living salary increases. No significant new PreK-8 programming was proposed for the past few budgets. In fact in 2005-06, we began to charge tuition for parents of general education preschoolers and increased it for 2006-07. For this year Hope taxpayers were again asked to cover the shortfall from the state funding which we calculate at $152,460 (3% inflationary increase each year from 2000-01 through 2006-07) which is equivalent to 10.78 cents on the local property tax rate. After the Hope Township Committee cuts last spring, the final budget increase is actually less than the above 10.78 cents shortfall! We further realized if the state continued to fund Hope School District at the 2000-01 rate of the original 33%, Hope Township school tax rate would have significantly declined!

The unanticipated increase in costs of out of district special education placements and related services this fall have resulted in the school not filling a grade 7/8 teaching position for 2006-07 and a reduction in the Basic Skills Instructional opportunities. The district will apply to the Commissioner of Education for Extraordinary Aide in April 2007. The budget restrictions of S1701 with associated reductions in contingencies and only $100,000 in surplus have prevented our district from being able to respond to these unanticipated expenses.

If we manage to navigate through this year, we will be faced with the unfortunate reality that other programs and services will be reduced or eliminated. Another year of flat funding and/or budget defeat in April 2007 would be catastrophic. The following are the expected results: reductions of custodial staff and services restricting evening community use of the school facility, elimination of safety busing (less than 2 miles), further reduction in certified staff, further reductions in basic skills and gifted and talented programming, loss of instrumental music, reduction or loss of general education preschool program, loss of summer school instructional support program, loss of after school academic support in language arts and mathematics, and the further reductions in co-curricular programs.

Hope School’s per pupil cost is $10,954 and is very competitive within our county and even more respectable within the state and other small schools. Please see the attachment in your packet. The credit for this is due to the talent and imagination of our former and current Business Administrators and the support of the Board of Education. We have reduced and minimized costs in several areas such as: new transportation contracts for special education students; new contracts for internet access provider, copiers and related service providers; shared service with the township and with our cluster districts in the areas of professional and curriculum development; shared staff; reduced energy costs through conservation and membership in purchasing consortiums; donations from the PTA for equipment, programs, and field trips; and acceptance of tuition-in students.

In summary, the combined effects of S1701 – reduced surplus to 2%, the precedence setting contribution from surplus, flat state funding for at least 7 years, unanticipated special education costs of almost $100,000, and the escalating costs associated with out of district placements without appropriate state reimbursement, have all created the "perfect storm" for Hope School District’s financial resources. It has, and if left unchecked will, force the BOE to further reduce programming for PreK-8 so it can meet the mandated obligations for high school tuition and out of district special education placements. It is no longer acceptable to fund the programming for some students at the expense of others.

On behalf of the Hope Educational Community, tax payers and most of all our students, I respectfully request that the adequate financial state funding be restored to Hope School District effective 2007-08 or sooner if possible. It is time to restructure taxation to shift the burden from the local property tax for schools to the state income tax to provide adequate state funding for schools. Thank you.