Madison Schools Could Face Fall Budget Cuts, Staffing Issues

MADISON, NJ—Tuesday’s Madison Board of Education meeting yielded uncertainty over the district’s reopening, and officials said cuts in state aid and staffing issues could plague the school year.

“It continues to be Madison's intention to open with a hybrid model,” said board president Heather Reddy. “And the complexities of that are great."

Madison is currently set to begin the school year in Phase 1 of its three-step reopening plan, in which students will attend classes in person twice per week on alternating days with early dismissal. Moving to Phase 2, everyday attendance with early dismissal, will depend on public health data and whether the schools can conform to state guidelines.

"We don't appear to have any deficiencies where we're not compliant with the health and safety guidance from the Department of Education," Madison Superintendent Mark Schwarz said.

Borough Health Officer Michael Fitzpatrick said the district would move forward based on data and direction from various levels of government. Fitzpatrick added that he was optimistic a full time return to school was possible this year.

"I’m voting for that we're going to be able to put children back into school in a more robust way every 14-21 days," if strict protocols are followed for the first few weeks of school, he said.

Reddy said the school system lost $211,000 in state funding, and that more cuts in aid are expected. The district will absorb the loss by delaying the hiring of a guidance counselor and special education teacher, transferring one employee, and eliminating a media specialist position.

"$211,000 was a big hole to fill," Reddy said. "We had no choice."

Schwarz warned that staffing would become a problem for the district. He said approximately 30 of 317 faculty members will potentially be on leave or work remotely this fall. The superintendent noted that if 30 employees are not physically at school, substitutes will have to be brought in at a cost of about $4,500 per day to the district.

"In many cases, when students come to school they might not have their regular teacher," Schwarz said. "They may have a substitute, they may have a long-term substitute."

The superintendent said the quality of instruction is a concern with so many precautions needed, including HVAC units to filter air inside classrooms, sanitizer stations, barriers, masks and other measures; and method of instruction—and instructor—perpetually up in the air.

"We certainly are approaching the mark of cutting into educational quality by being in person," Schwarz said. "So we want to evaluate this and make a decision...to be moving forward with the Phase 1 model, even though we might have a decrease in educational quality, or whether it would be best to open schools remotely."

Schwarz added that students who anticipate working with a full time district teacher every in-person school day should adjust their expectations.

"I think everyone needs to accept the fact that that will not be the case for all students," he said.

Schwarz said there is uncertainty coming from Trenton regarding additional budget cuts this fall.

"It's not really clear from the state whether we need to be bracing for September cuts," he said. "If there are additional cuts, we have a variety of areas we have earmarked. [We ask] what things would be least painful for students."

With the start of the school year approaching, Schwarz said he would apprise the board of the school system's projected fall staffing levels by the end of this week. Those numbers, in turn, will help the district make a final decision on how school will look in the fall.

"I think all districts are vastly underestimating what the level of absenteeism is going to be...and the impact it's going to have on people's satisfaction level," said Schwartz. "I'd like to have a decision [on all-remote learning] that is concrete, that we do not intend to deviate from, by Monday (Aug. 24) at the latest."