NEW PROVIDENCE, NJ - Chairman of the New Providence Board of Education Robert Lucid addressed what may be considered the most shocking development in the school system’s history at a Board of Education meeting on Thursday night -- New Providence schools will see a 100 percent loss in state aid and a 15 percent reduction in debt service aid for the upcoming school year.  The town must present a budget by Monday without the luxuries of about $1,480,000 in state aid and $52,000 in debt service aid.

The reductions, which were presented to the board on Wednesday afternoon as a result of Governor Christie’s issuance of Executive Order 14, mean that drastic cuts have to be made in many areas of the school system according to Board member John Wolak. He said that the board knew it would be facing a difficult budget for the upcoming year with plans to lay off teachers and other staff members and raise taxes on New Providence residents, but Wednesday’s news means doing a lot more to save money in order to move forward. However, Wolak and his fellow board members mentioned that they were confident that the town would work through this seemingly impossible situation. "We’ll continue to have a very valuable asset, our schools, at the end of this process," Wolak said. "It’s going to be difficult... there will be some pain, but... our community will continue to have top flight education for each and every one of our children."

Wolak said that the goal for the town is to develop a budget that will be passed on Monday. In order to do this he discussed several options that the board has come up with to make up the roughly 1.4 million dollar loss in state aid and $52,000 in debt relief.

The first option for New Providence is what Wolak called a ’pass through’. This means that the 1.4 million dollars will be made up through a tax levy on residents, about an increase of $396 in taxes per household. In order to do this the town must be granted a waiver from Union County in order to raise the current four percent cap that is mandated on tax levies, Wolak said. "It’s not automatic that we can get a pass through approved by the county and if we do... we still have to put it through a vote. It must be approved by the taxpayers of New Providence," he stated.

The second option discussed is to make cuts within the operating budget to get within the four percent cap. This will impact sports, academics, class sizes and virtually every aspect of the school district, Wolak said. Another option, called ’concessions’, is to reopen negations on the four bargaining contracts that New Providence currently has with its teachers, the custodians, the secretaries and the principals. These staff members currently will receive about a 4.1 percent pay increase in the final year of their contracts, but the bargaining units could agree to a salary freeze which would forgo the 4.1 percent. This however, would leave New Providence about a half million short of the 1.4 million, according to Wolak.

The final option presented was entitled ’concessions and other cuts.’ This would be a combination of the salary freeze strategy and cuts within the school system. "Those are our four options. Pain, pain, pain and pain. There’s no other way to say it," he said. Wolak also mentioned that it was important for residents to vote on the final budget which is planned to be passed on April 20th. "We’re in crunch time now and we need each and every one of you to perform," Wolak stressed to the over 200 residents at Thursday’s meeting.

Members of the Board of Education expressed their displeasure at Governor Christie taking away their district’s state aid money because he effectively believes the schools are sitting on too much revenue which could be used in other areas, such as health care. "These cuts are deplorable. To take away money that is used to provide the best quality of education for our students makes no sense," board member Nancy Opperthauser said.

It was then the public’s turn to express their concerns and offer options on the difficult situation. Resident Brian Flannigan said that a blend of all four of the options presented by Wolak would be the most feasible solution for the town. He said that the county will probably not allow for the requested increase in tax levy and that concessions would not save New Providence enough money. "What we’re dealing with here is... like an ax. Our response has to be surgical," Flannigan said.

Joe Shen said that it was important that New Providence residents receive information detailing the four options that were laid out before the budget is voted on. Board member Adam Smith said that information will be provided in a timely fashion and that the reason the board is seeking public comment is to hear what residents will and will not support so the budget can be approved.

Resident Kathy Teal suggested that fees be charged for sports programs within the schools. She said that this will save the town some money and is a far better option than the proposed cuts of some of the sports programs, an option discussed. Many others agreed that laying off staff members, increasing class room sizes and reducing essential educational components are not smart solutions because ultimately it will be the children who will suffer by not being provided with the best education possible.