$555K For Security, Busing Added To Bridgewater-Raritan School Budget

BRIDGEWATER, NJ ? The roughly $176 million Bridgewater-Raritan School District budget for the 2023-2024 school year was approved by the Board of Education(BOE) but not before $55,000 in expenses surrounding security and hazardous busing were added.

Business Administrator/Board Secretary Peter Starrs presented the $176,006,447 spending plan at the April 25 BOE meeting outlining the two amendments.

The budget, which has an increase of 2.35 percent over the 2022-23 budget, was approved with the exception of Langfang "Lucy" Li. The district was allowed to go over the 2 percent cap due to rising healthcare costs.

The two amendments, which include $400,000 for hazardous busing and $155,000 to add three campus monitors to the district, were added over uncertainties relating to Bridgewater Township, said Starrs.

Starrs said, as a result of not knowing if the township would be covering this expense this year, the $400,000 was moved from the district's revenue to the tax levy.

For the past 20 years, hazardous busing is usually paid for each year by Bridgewater Township. However, this was not included in the first iteration of this year?s municipal budget, according to Starrs.

In the past, the township has contributed more than $4 million to the BOE in support of hazardous busing or an average of around $250,000 per year, said Councilman Howard Norgalis at the Jan. 19 council meeting.

Many council members had expressed at that meeting their concerns over the rising costs of hazardous busing. Read More: Bridgewater Sees 114% Jump In Hazardous Busing Costs, Officials Upset

Starrs noted that New Jersey state law requires the district to provide all high school students farther than 2.5 miles and k-8 level students farther than 2 miles busing. Within that, there is hazardous busing which includes transportation for the safety of students in the township who must walk to and from school along hazardous routes - such as routes without sidewalks or near highways.

"We know over the last two years we've discussed, we've had presentations, we've had political arguments over the importance of the safety and security of our kids. I'm not willing in my position to do anything that could potentially affect in a negative way the safety and security of our students. And the last thing I want to do is have a situation where we can't provide hazardous busing for our kids to have a safe way to school. That is something that I take extremely seriously," said Beers at the meeting.

Patch reached out for an updated comment from the Township on the hazardous busing situation. They issued the following statement:

"For the 2021-2022 school year, the price of hazardous busing rose 113% after staying relatively flat for several years prior. This substantive increase naturally drew increased scrutiny from the Township Administration and Governing Body.
Consequently, the Township requested detailed information as to the operation of this program in order to justify the ongoing expense to its taxpayers. Most immediately, we requested to know how many of the students we are paying to transport actually use the services we pay to provide. While the District has replied to our correspondence, their replies did not substantively address this question nor several others that we posed.
The School District has demonstrated that it is not taking seriously the substantive concerns we have presented to them for the past year, and it should come as no surprise to them that the Township will not be funding the program in 2023. It is the responsibility of the School District, not the Township government, to transport children to and from school. This clarifies that distinction of services, and upholds our commitment to be diligent custodians of every taxpayer dollar for which we are responsible."

The second amendment to the budget was the addition of $155,000 for more campus security.

"It's been a district plan to continue to add to our security personnel to provide for the safety and security of our students. With some of the uncertainty facing with the Class III Officers. We want to make sure we are proactive and expand our personnel to continue to make sure the services that we offer to every student who walks through the door is enhanced and we maintain the safety and security of our facilities," said Beers.

Resident JP Levin spoke during public comment asking what uncertainties revolve around the Class III officers in the district.

"There is uncertainty regarding the future of Class III Officers in the district simply because there has been absolutely no dialogue between Bridgewater Township and the Board of Education," said Beers.

Beers said the district's attorney reached out to the Township regarding getting specifics for Class III Officers on April 6 and April 21 and has gotten no response.

"I am not going to mess around with school security. So I am going to be proactive and continue to provide the services our students, staff, and community deserve in order to keep our buildings as safe as possible," said Beers.

The township said funding for the Class III Police Officers is included within the budget introduced last week.

"The Township remains open and willing to meet with the School District to work through any issues," the township told Patch.

Despite the two amendments, Bridgewater will still see a decrease in the tax impact.

For an average homeowner in Bridgewater Township with a home assessed at $516,941, they would see a tax decrease of $54.82 per $100,000 of assessment.

For an average homeowner in Raritan Borough with a home assessed at $322,698, they would see a tax increase of $41.45 per 100,000 of assessment.

The budget also includes the reduction in 11 employees through "attrition and enrollment numbers."

The district is also adding four staff members with two at the high school for theater and alternative and two at the intermediate level for behavioral disability classrooms.

Included in the budget are a number of projects to the district facilities, which Starrs said are not included in the referendum.

Those projects include Crim School repaving and drainage improvements, BRHS loop road repaving, Roof replacements at BRHS building 500 and 600, JFK and Eisenhower Fire Alarm replacement, BRHS auditorium sound and lighting, BRHS gym bleachers, and BRHS outdoor patio creation.

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