Board of Education Taxes

A $178 million budget for the 2018-19 school year that includes a slight decrease in the school portion of property taxes was approved April 26 by the Board of Education. The $178,220,898 total spending plan – an increase of $6,065,143 over the 2017-18 budget – includes funding for opening a new elementary school and placing police officers in every school, …

Update: The Board of Education approved the tentative budget. The board will hold a public hearing on the budget at its April 26 meeting. Original Story: The 2018-19 school year could see a more-than tripling in the number of armed police officers in township schools. Included in the proposed 2018-19 school year budget set to be introduced on March 28 …

The Board of Education at its Sept. 28 meeting approved a number of contracts for the current school year. The board approved: A $12,460 “as needed” contract with SHOOP SBA, of Fairfield to provide business office consultant services, to complete the transition of the full-time Assistant Superintendent for Business, from Aug. 22 to Oct. 31. The rate of compensation is …

Franklin High School tennis teams may have their real home court to play on come this spring. The Board of Education on Sept. 29 awarded an $847,917 contract to Halecon, Inc. of Bridgewater to reconstruct the school’s tennis courts, which haven’t been used in years. Schools Superintendent John Ravally said the contract was awarded at the suggestion of the school …

Township parents with children in the district’s Pre-K program are getting an unexpected surprise: a refund of the nearly $6,000 tuition. District officials announced Sept. 28 that the state has approved a $1.1 million Preschool Education Expansion Aid grant for the 2017-18 school year. The money will be used toward reimbursements of the tuition paid for the students enrolled in …

The Board of Education is set to vote Aug. 24 on a set of merit goals for schools Superintendent John Ravally that could be worth nearly $30,000. State law permits boards of education to approve merit bonuses for school superintendents, based on percentages of the superintendents’  salary. Ravally is in the first year of a five-year contract in which his …

Construction workers at the Claremont Road School site are ruffling the feathers of some of their neighbors. Two Marion Avenue residents appeared at the July 27 Board of Education meeting to ask the board members’ help with some issues with the workers. The residents were introduced by Lakeside Avenue resident Daryl Kipnis, an attorney who is challenging state Sen. Robert …

A new 5-year contract for the schools Superintendent was approved May 25 by the Board of Education. The $196,584 contract ups schools Superintendent John Ravally’s salary by nearly $20,000, and comes just two years into his original 5-year term. The move was made to bring Ravally’s salary in line with updated state regulations concerning schools superintendents’ compensation, school board president …

There were more questions than comments May 16 when the school district’s proposed school rezoning plan was debuted to a packed house in the Franklin High School cafeteria. That could be a good thing, in terms of keeping district on schedule for getting the entire redistricting project finished in time for the 2018-19 school year. The rezoning plan is necessitated …

The Franklin High School outdoor athletic complex and gym will likely have some new additions starting next school year in the form of sponsored banners. The Board of Education at its April 27 meeting unanimously approved amendments to the district’s policy regulating sponsorship signage, allowing the banners only at the high school, showing no signs of the discord that accompanied …