Ventnor Board of School Estimate meeting.
By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY
VENTNOR – The Board of School Estimate Wednesday, March 31 unanimously approved the district’s 2021-2022 school year budget.
Ventnor is a Type I school district with Board of Education members appointed by the governing body, which collects taxes to fund the schools. The Board of School Estimate is made up of the city’s three commissioners and the president and vice-president of the school board.
The board met virtually to approve the minutes from last year’s BSE meeting and approve three resolutions approving the budget, tax levy and semi-annual payments for the school board to operate the schools.
The $20.8 million general fund budget includes a $16,782,698 tax levy, which is split into two equal payments due for July 1 to Dec. 31, 2021, and Jan. 1 to June 30, 2022.
The budget calls for a 4-cent reduction in the school tax rate. A homeowner will pay $1,251 for every $150,000 of assessed valuation.
The budget maintains all educational programming for the district’s 632 students.
After negotiating to reduce the tax impact of the budget as originally proposed, the municipality agreed to bond for the district’s capital improvements, which are projected to cost $2.3 million this year.
Mayor Beth Holtzman said the governing body will continue to bond for capital improvements, which will allow future taxpayers to share in the cost over the life of the improvements. Most of the capital project work is for HVAC and replacing Airedale units.
The meeting brought about the BSE’s annual discussions about the cost of tuition to Atlantic City High School and the effect of bonding for improvements.
Commissioner Lance Landgraf said Atlantic City school district has been getting increasing amounts of state aid but sending districts do not benefit.
“I don’t believe that they can,” Board of Education Vice-president and former Atlantic City liaison Kim Bassford said. “The law is written as such that this state aid that they get that is allocated to be spent at the high school is wrapped up and charged back to us as tuition. Until that law is changed, there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Bassford said using state aid for capital improvements at the high school affects the tuition rate unfairly and that the Atlantic City school district is receiving money twice: once when it is awarded state aid and a second time when it collects tuition from sending districts.
“It has to be changed legislatively,” she said, stating she has written to the governor and state legislators asking the law be changed.
Landgraf said the city has also written letters to state legislators about the need to reform how tuition is apportioned for sending districts.
“They are dumping money into one district, and the benefits of those dollars are not trickling down to the sending districts,” he said. “It’s not a fair calculation.”
There will be 12 fewer students attending ACHS during the upcoming school year for a total of 191 students. Ventnor will pay Atlantic City $18,007 per student, down from $19,019 last year. Combined with a tuition adjustment of $6,147 from prior years, the district will pay $3.84 million in total tuition, down $421,320 from last year.
Bassford said the district could consider following Absecon’s lead in its effort to pull out of the Pleasantville school district, “And then, where would we go?” she said.
In a discussion about reducing the budget to allow the city to bond for improvements, auditor Leon Costello of Ford-Scott of Ocean City said the city has “plenty of bonding capacity that will not affect taxpayers at all for the next seven or eight years. Unless you’re spending $20 million, we’re fine.”
The district is currently preparing a multi-year capital plan for the governing body’s review.
“Bonding is great, but we are mindful of the money being taken out of the budget. At a certain point, the rubber will meet the road,” Ventnor Education Association President Gina Perkins said.
Holtzman said it would be “incomprehensible” to hit the taxpayers in one year for a capital improvement that could be spread out over several years, noting that enrollment has declined and so must the budget.
“Other people moving into Ventnor would never pay their share of that tax. That’s not fair to the taxpayers,” Holtzman said. “We understand why the staff get nervous…We can look up the road, but we have to deal with it today.”
Holtzman said many of the district’s teachers are non-residents and that two-thirds of property owners are second homeowners who do not have children attending the city’s schools.
“It’s a little different when it hits your pocket,” Holtzman said.
Teacher Michele Masterman, who is a resident of Ventnor, expressed concern about reducing the budget to the detriment of students.
“Your community is only as good as your school district. If we keep taking money out of the budget because the enrollment is down, you still have to look at the needs of the students,” she said. “The children are the most important asset of the community.”
Landgraf stated the commissioners have never cut any educational programs during their tenure.
“We cut where there has been fat, and we have taken on the debt to improve that school…and we will continue to do that,” he said.
Commissioner Tim Kriebel asked if there would be any reimbursements for COVID-19 expenses.
Business Administrator Terri Nowotny said applications are due on May 14, but funding won’t be available before the budget year.
“We may be able to reduce some of our expenditures,” she said.
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