Reply To: School Board Monitors in Lakewood & East Ramapo

In Lakewood where the state monitor is running the board, the state must either provide additional funding to balance this years budget or have the deficit of $12.4 million according to APP, rolled into next years budget. The new budget for next year is due now and it is doubtful if there will be an increase in the portion provided by real estate taxes as they just voted down a 6% increase.

If cutting bussing is off the table, as Lakewood is contributing $2.5 million as per agreement in the APP, that leaves a $9.9 million deficit to be funded by either cuts to public school services or additional state funding. Since the school year is more than half over and the budget for other than school busing is about $100 million this would require a 20% cut on all public school services to balance the budget which is impossible. Additional State aid is the only option.