Randolph school board introduces budget. Here's why taxpayers will see a hike

The Randolph Board of Education approved a $99.4 million tentative operating budget for 2023-2024, representing a 4.82% increase over the current school year.

With business administrator Stephen Frost noting significant increases in healthcare benefits, insurance and construction costs, the board at its meeting on Thursday voted unanimously in favor of the budget. Adding in an allowable health benefits adjustment, the total budget rises 3.38% to $104.9 million, producing a tax-rate increase of 2.51%.

"I'm really pleased where it came out considering everything that is going on in the world," Frost said.

Frost said cost increases in almost every area make it impossible to stay below the state-mandated 2% tax increase cap.

"Heath benefits, if you're fortunate and you have a good year, you're running between 7% and 10% increases," he said. "Utility costs are up 20%-30%-40% increases across the board. We're seeing construction costs skyrocketing."

Annual reductions in state aid since the 2018-2019 school year have also challenged the district budget, Frost said. State aid has fallen in the district every year since 2017, when it received $12.8 million with a decrease of $622,000 in 2023-2024, state aid will be down to $6.9 million.

"Our cumulative loss is almost $6 million [per year]," Frost said. "If you combine all of those losses in each year, it will be a little more than $24 million we have lost in funding. That's over $24 million where we had to cut programs, cut things, or the taxpayers had to pick up the tab."

The proposal avoids cuts in education and major programs, increases in class sizes or staffing reductions other than attrition, according to the budget presentation to the board. All academic. co-curricular and athletics programs will remain in place.

The budget is scheduled for public discussion and final approval on April 27 pending approval by the Morris County Educational Services Commission.

Public comment included discussion of binders containing hundreds of district documents obtained by a Randolph parent group they submitted to the board as evidence of poor district leadership, policies and overspending.

Todd Schleifstein said his group had been advised that one unnamed board member had spoken of the binders in public, saying instead of reading the binders, the board turned them over to Frost and Superintendent Jennifer Fano, "essentially asking them to investigate themselves."

"Ms. Fano and Mr. Frost reported that the financials in the binder were incorrect," Schleifstein alleged. "All of the financials set forth in our binder, however, came from your own documents."

Board members Sheldon Epstein and Michael Giordano pushed back on Epstein's accusations as both inaccurate and "hearsay."

"Personally, I'm not prepared to speak for the board, but I read the binder, and did what any ethical board member should do, which is to refer the binder, which can only be construed as a series of complaints, to the administration for review.," Giordano said. "If at some point it makes sense, the board will talk about that."

Epstein said despite "third-hand" information being distributed to the public, he also read the binder and referred it to the administration per the rules of board ethics. "I hope [people] recognize hearsay when you hear it, and what first-hand information is," he said.

"This isn't over," Schleifstein vowed.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: RTNJ BOE proposed $104M budget will bring a tax hike