Salaries take hit in school budget cuts
By ROBERT LINNEHAN
The Cherry Hill Sun
5/23/2010

Heeding the call of Township Council to cut $2.5 million from its 2010-2011 budget, the Cherry Hill Board of Education announced the areas that would be reduced at a special action meeting last week.

The Board approved cuts in several areas, with salary reductions for district employees coming in at the highest with $600,000. Breakage – teachers retiring and being replaced with new teachers at lower salaries – was second with $500,000.

Administration reductions came in third at $294,000. Administration was a point of interest for several Council members and Mayor Bernie Platt, who criticized the district’s number of administrators and the salary costs to keep them in the district. Council actually suggested reducing administration costs by $800,000.

“But, even as good as those teachers are, they are overshadowed by the cost of the administration in our school district. I got the emails, letters and phone calls complaining about the number of assistant principals, the salaries of the administration and the amount of non-teacher support staff,” Platt said at the township public hearing two weeks ago. “Our superintendent makes almost $100,000 more than the governor of this state.”

Newly appointed Board of Education President Seth Klukoff disagreed with the assessment that the district has too many administrators. Since 1996 the district has been reducing its number of administrators, he said, and plans to not fill several positions that are being lost to retirement.

The administrators are heavily leaned upon in the schools to mentor students, help teachers, and make sure the overall educational process is a smooth one, he said. The cuts from the 2010-11 budget were hard to make, Klukoff said, but the board members are confident they will not negatively affect the education of Cherry Hill students.

“We took every step possible in the deliberations for these particular cuts to make sure that we’ve talked about the five goals of the district. Those goals guided our thinking throughout the entire budget process,” he said. “While these cuts were tough, and we made cuts we wished we didn’t have to make, we feel confident and secure that these cuts won’t have a lasting impact on the educational viability of our students.”

Four elementary Spanish teachers will be let go for a reduction of $248,000, according to the district.

Two reading teachers – formerly called instructional support specialists – were reduced for a savings of $124,000.

One student assistance counselor is being reduced for $62,000. An IDEA Carryover Grant – which is basically charging for out-of-district placements – will also save the district $100,000.

Additionally the district’s Blueprint curriculum plan is being reduced by $80,000. Also, based on final renewal numbers, the district will save $225,000 in health benefit projections.

Capital reductions totalled $238,000. Finally, a CTS support position will be left vacant for a savings of $29,000.

“We were able to arrive at a budget that we know is built firmly on the education, fiscal, and operational goals of our district. We were able to strike a balance between adhering to the directives from the Township Council and at the same time making sure we were doing everything possible to not hinder the core educational programming of the district,” Klukoff said.

The original $166.76 million 2010-11 budget was defeated by more than 500 votes in the April 20 Board of Education elections.