$119M Budget Introduced by Bloomfield Board of Ed for 2020-21 School Year – TAPinto.net
BLOOMFIELD, NJ – The final adoption of the $119 million budget for the 2020-21 school year was approved by the Bloomfield Board of Education at Tuesday’s meeting.
Bloomfield Schools Superintendent Sal Goncalves made the presentation with the budget broken down by funds that includes $113,911,166 in the general fund, $3,201,810 in the special revenue fund, and $2,577,350 in the debt service fund, totaling $119,690,326.
“We are proud of this budget, and you’ll see that this budget covers and speaks to all our buildings and facilities, all our personnel, and it speaks to our curriculum and instruction, which is most important,” said Goncalves. “And especially during this teacher appreciation week, we thank our teachers and all that they do for us, they make us a big part of who we are.”
The general fund tax levy of $75,234,142, and debt service fund of $2,577,350, supports the budget to the tune of $77,811,492.
“With state aid and the tax levy increase of 2%, that’s total additional revenue of $5,067,721 to be spent on our children,” Goncalves said. “The tax impact per $100,000 of assessed property value is $21.23 per home.”
The motion to accept the budget was unanimously approved by the board.
“Bloomfield has been recognized as a high performing school district,“ Goncalves stated. “This has never happened before in Bloomfield and we plan to keep this distinction in the years to come. With professional development, we want out teachers to be the best trained, and we want to provide the best learning environment at all our schools.”
Tuesday’s meeting was conducted at the School Administration Building with board members participating via videoconference. Proceedings were livestreamed on the district Facebook page and WBMA-TV since the public session was closed due to social distancing mandates.
“I want to congratulate our administration and our board for the years of planning to make sure we are fiscally responsible with our money,” said Board President Jill Fischman. “This board and administration are making sure we get the most bang for our buck.”
The school district is aware of potential financial hurdled they may have to jump regarding the fallout from COVID-19 related expense within the township and the district.
“Our business administrator has been running different scenarios should state or township aid be less due to COVID-19 expenses regarding the tax levy,” Goncalves stressed. “There are quite a few unknowns, but we are running these different scenarios with the guidance we are getting from Trenton to make sure we can honor our student and contractual obligations.”
A hearing of the public was requested regarding the budget ahead of the meeting via email, but no comments or questions were submitted to the board.
The next Bloomfield Board of Education Public Meeting takes place Tuesday, May 19 at the School Administration Building with a closed executive session at 5:00 pm followed by the livestreamed public meeting at 5:30 pm.