by Gabe Donio, Gazette Staff Writer

HAMMONTON—The Hammonton Board of Education voted unanimously to send a preliminary 2008-2009 budget to the county superintendent of schools during a special meeting held on March 4. The total budget reached a new high of $43,301,196. The figure includes the totals of the general fund, special revenue fund and debt service fund.
This year’s budget represents an approximately 8.4-percent increase in school spending when compared with the 2007-2008 budget, which totaled $39,942,527. The total spending increase from last year’s budget to this year’s budget is more than $3.3 million.
Figures for the total spending were given by Hammonton Board of Education Business Administrator Barbara Prettyman in response to a question by The Gazette.
The district received an additional 20 percent in state aid, or approximately $2 million, Prettyman said. In addition, there will also be an additional $883,146 in tuition from Waterford Twp. and an additional $49,154 in tuition from Folsom.
“Even with all this additional funding, we are still $1 million below what the state considers ‘adequacy’ when it comes to the budget,” Prettyman said.
Hammonton Superintendent of Schools Mary Lou DeFrancisco said the budget included nine new certified positions, as well as a new full-time secretarial position for the superintendent’s office and a change in a part-time secretarial position in the business office to a full-time position. Hammonton Board of Education Finance Committee Chairman Stephen DiDonato told The Gazette that the budget also includes four staff aide positions, one supervisor, eight department chairs at $2500 per year and two full-time painters/maintenance employees for the district.
“We also have two maintenance positions, because as you know, building maintenance has fallen by the wayside as budgets have shrunk. These people will be brought in to paint and do maintenance,” Hammonton Board of Education President Loretta Rehmann said.
DeFrancisco said the budget would also add technology at the district.
“It’s hard to believe, but the computers at the high school are already six years old. We plan to provide the high school students with upgraded technology, then take a look at all the schools and see about their technology needs,” DeFrancisco said.
Textbooks and other educational tools will also be upgraded, DeFrancisco said.
Other expenses are included in the budget, Prettyman said.
“We have increased staff positions . . . we will see increased insurance costs, we have an emergency reserve of $600,000, because the district operates without a surplus,” Prettyman said.
Funding for the design phase for a project at Warren E. Sooy Elementary School is also included in the upcoming budget, according to the board.
Rehmann told the board that the budget would result in a “zero tax increase” for residents. In addition, the board plans to clear its deficit from the 2007-2008 budget in the coming year, Rehmann said. The board also unanimously voted to remove the “for sale” signs from its properties on the White Horse Pike and take the properties off the market.
“On a personal note, it feels much better to be here than it has in previous years. This is an excellent board,” Rehmann said.
At the opening of the meeting, Rehmann said the board would be deviating from its normal procedure of hearing from the public at the beginning of the meeting. The only member of the public present at the meeting was a reporter from The Gazette.
The board did open the meeting up to the public before the vote on the budget was taken.
Upcoming meetings for the Hammonton Board of Education include their regularly scheduled meeting on March 13 at 7 p.m. and a budget meeting scheduled for March 26 at 6 p.m.