Council takes fresh look at school budget P'burg School District looking to cut more after voters rejected $7 million levy. Tuesday, May 06, 2008 • By ANDREA EILENBERGER • The Express-Times PHILLIPSBURG | Town council had plenty of questions Monday night on Phillipsburg School District's defeated $59.6 million budget but offered no formal recommendations on how to further shape spending. Council President David DeGerolamo pointed to the administrative overhaul and roughly 61 positions the district is already planning to eliminate, saying it isn't easy to find other places to trim. The $7 million local levy was rejected by voters last month, giving council the chance to recommend spending cuts. They characterized the meeting as a fact-finding session, and no "smoking gun" was uncovered, DeGerolamo said. A small committee of councilmen and school officials are planning a closed-door meeting to answer any further questions and have scheduled a tentative public meeting May 16 in case council decides to issue a recommendation. Councilmen applauded school officials for tackling a painful $10 million budget gap this year, which meant making tough cuts to staff, programs, field trips, activities, high school summer school sessions and other areas. Last year's session between the sides centered on the amount of administrators in the district. Some positions were eliminated then and a new administrative model being formulated for the 2008-09 year will further reduce that number. Councilman Jim Shelly suggested school officials also look at other areas. "I think the area to look at is positions outside the classroom," Shelly said. DeGerolamo pointed to the Phillipsburg Alternative Secondary School and whether it could be consolidated or modified. "That's a program we looked long and hard at," school board President Paul Rummerfield said. The consensus was to maintain it at this point, and Rummerfield said there were some legal questions surrounding it, but they will continue evaluating it. DeGerolamo also took issue with aspects he called "superior benefits" in the business administrator and assistant superintendent's contracts that he said were tied to former Superintendent Gordon Pethick's contract. That included payment for personal cell phone and computer usage and longevity payments. He believes longevity should be factored into administrators' salaries. Officials don't anticipate next year's budget season will be any easier, considering the fact that state aid to the district is going to be frozen at a 2 percent increase for the next few years. A state funding formula also indicates the local tax levy should be about $3 million higher than it is now. "Obviously, our expenses aren't going to be frozen," acting Superintendent George Chando said. Reporter Andrea Eilenberger can be reached at 610-258-7171 or by e-mail at aeilenberger@express-times.com.