Atlantic City High School
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – There’s nothing the Ventnor Board of Education can do about a more than $1 million increase in the cost of sending students to Atlantic City High School, board members said Wednesday, Feb. 26. Ventnor, a Type I school district, has a sending-receiving relationship with Atlantic City for its high school-aged students.
The board learned that tuition for the 2020-2021 school year would be jacked up to $19,019 per student from the $16,719 the district paid for the current school year. The $2,300 increase in tuition for 174 students, which was certified by the state, will add $400,200 to Ventnor’s school budget. Tuition for special education student will also increase by $80,210. In addition, tuition adjustments for prior years will add $579,329 to the board’s budget.
Although the city had a $13 million increase in the ratable base over the last year, the increase will add 6.3 cents to the tax rate. Taxpayers will pay $1,307 based on $150,000 of assessed valuation, which is $94 more than last year.
The district will learn its state aid number by 4 p.m. Thursday, school Business Administrator Terri Nowotny said. If state aid remains flat, the proposed budget will go up $1,524,792, $1,063,121 for Atlantic City High School alone.
Board member Kim Bassford, the board’s representative on the Atlantic City Board of Education, said the news of the increase was “a shock to all of us.”
She said she had a “lively conversation” during a conference call with Atlantic City Superintendent Barry Caldwell and state fiscal monitors.
Bassford said she does not get to vote on the increase, which was developed “by statute.” Any changes in the school funding formula needs to be addressed by the Legislature, she said.
Nowotny said for the 2018-2019 budget year, Atlantic City school district received $20 million in additional state aid, which had to be spent on educational programs.
“Whatever portion of that was spent at the high school, obviously their revenue increased, their expenses increased and that cost per pupil gets filtered back to us. In addition and at the same time, their enrollment went down so their cost per pupil goes up even if there were no additional expenses,” Nowotny said.
Board member Albert Battaglia said the board was “blindsided” by the increase.
“They don’t talk about us. They don’t care. Our tax base is not spoken about,” Bassford said.
Other sending districts, including Margate and Brigantine were also not aware of the increase, Bassford said.
Nowotny said she was aware the tuition adjustment for prior years was coming, but the drop in enrollment coupled with the increase in tuition, was a surprise.
There was no further discussion among the board members about what could be done to address the cost incurred by the Type I school district.
“We’ve always gotten money back each year, and we always said how that’s gotten tighter and tighter and would go away, and this is the year that it went away. Unfortunately, both of those things happened at the same time,” Nowotny said.
Battaglia called it “a perfect storm.”
“We worked very hard to keep our budget in line,” board member Michael Advena said. “We are constantly under this, ‘We can’t do anything about it.’ There has to be something we can do. It’s taxpayers’ money. Our budget’s going to go up, and the money comes from the residents.”
“There’s nothing we can do,” school board President Douglas Biagi said.
Some infrastructure work was done at the high school, Bassford said, including a new gym floor.
Mayor Beth Holtzman said she asked to meet with Coldwell and the city and two school boards’ administrative teams to discuss the 14% increase in tuition in one year.
“That’s outrageous,” she said. “I want a detailed reporting of all the expenses that went into this tuition increase. I hope it’s not for capital improvements that should be paid for over the lifespan of those improvements.”
Holtzman said she also reached out to NJ Sen. Chris Brown and Assemblymen Vince Mazzeo and John Armato to discuss the issue.
The state aid figures will be plugged in and finalized by the board at a special meeting being held at noon, Tuesday, March 3 in Superintendent Eileen Johnson’s office. It is due to the Atlantic County Executive Superintendent on March 4.
The Board of School Estimate meeting will be held 5 p.m. Monday, March 30 in Commission Chambers at Ventnor City Hall, 6201 Atlantic Ave.
