Livingston’s Board of Education approved the 2023-24 school district budget during its Tuesday, April 25, meeting.
The budget, which has been discussed during Board meetings over the last two months, will see a total appropriation amounting to $145,001,238. This figure includes the combined costs of anticipated revenues and taxes to be raised.
“This budget provides a really strong start to develop those flexible, innovative educational spaces in each of our schools,” superintendent Matthew Block said.
It accounts for new hires, including mental health professionals, an English Second Language teacher, and three “possible” elementary school teachers, among others. The decision was made based on increasing enrollment trends.
The Board will also be withdrawing $2,228,638 from its capital reserve account in order to fund boiler rebuilds at Livingston High School and Mt. Pleasant Middle School; public address systems at Burnet Hill, Hillside, and Riker Hill; a fire panel upgrade at Hillside; and modular units on the Burnet Hill and Hillside properties. More than half of the money withdrawn will go toward building the two units.
Budget decisions have been discussed at the past four Board meetings with former business administrator Michael Davison and interim business administrator Dora Zeno. The Essex County’s Department of Education office approved the budget last Tuesday, April 18.
“You have wonderful schools; this is the result of your investment,” Zeno said. “So when we ask you to open up your wallet a little bit, you see the result right in front of you.”
The budget also includes funding for furniture and instructional tools that are conducive to an active learning environment, a strategy used to broaden teaching techniques across all learning types. Some teachers have adopted a new classroom environment as early as 2019 with a visible change to their seating arrangements, for example.
Melissa Lowenthal, a fifth grade teacher at Burnet Hill, has multiple seating options for students, including bean bags, foldable chairs, high chairs, and seats that swivel, allowing students more mobility.
The purpose, Zach Dorfman, a fourth grade teacher at Collins, said, is to give students choice and a sense of independence and responsibility in their own learning experience.
“Because they’re given choices and options for the types of seats that they can sit at, it actually also improves engagement,” Dorfman said. “We don’t have students who need to get a little bit of energy out now not being able to. They’re able to choose that seat that allows them to function at a greater level.”
The 2024-25 calendar is still being revised as the administration weighs public and staff considerations, Block said. The last day of class will be moved from June 26, 2025, to an earlier end date.
Negotiations
The Board reached negotiation agreements with three union organizations within the district: the Livingston Education Association (LEA), the Livingston Administrators’ Association (LAA), and the Livingston Supervisors’ Association (LSA). Negotiations began lastAugust. It will start July 1 and end June 30, 2028, marking a five-year contract period.
Among varied health care benefits, tuition reimbursement and additional staff support, all three associations will see an average salary increase of 3.225 percent over five years.
“I just want to thank the board [for] coming up with a very fair contract, and all of our members,” Brian Carey, president of the LSA, said, specifically thanking Block, human resources manager Sue Burman, and negotiations committee members Seth Cohen and Pam Chirls.
According to Carey, 70 members of the LSAvoted against the contract, making it an 82 percent approval vote. He says this is attributed to the “job [being] made harder” with “limited resources” through the COVID pandemic and meeting the needs of students, staff and parents.
“I’m hoping that in the future, in the same spirit that we conducted these negotiations, we’ll continue to look for ways that we can address some of those concerns that caused 70 people to vote ‘no,’” he said.
Executive Session
During its closed, executive session prior to the start of the meeting, the Board reportedly met to discuss a legal matter.
