One of the reasons that we chose to move to West Orange was the school system – and I know that I’m not alone,
I spend quite a bit of time walking through our neighborhood with my dog, and often notice houses going up for sale. They are inevitably marked “pending” or “under contract” in what seems like a matter of days. And when the new homeowners show up, they’re bringing young children with them.
People know that West Orange is a great place to raise a family and to send their kids to school. But that didn’t happen by accident.
Our school system is a product of investments made over the last few decades. Through those investments, we’ve laid a foundation that we can build on. We’ve chosen to prioritize our schools and invest in them – even though the state has sometimes shirked its own responsibility to fund them fairly.
There are, however, some in our community that take a short sighted view. They seek to trim the school district’s budget, regardless of the impact this has on the quality of the schools. As a result, we’ve been tightening our belt for the last ten years. At this point, there’s no fat left to trim.
If we continue to focus on cost saving measures, we’re going to cut into the heart of the school district’s budget. This year’s budget process made this plainly evident.
Potential cuts included both a media specialist at Hazel Elementary and bussing along hazardous routes throughout town. Both decisions would have been bad if you took them at face value. But they’re even worse when you consider the ramifications for equity in the district.
Thankfully, both of these cuts were avoided. But they never should have been on the table in the first place.
At the same time, this doesn’t mean that our residential property taxes need to be out of control.
On the one hand, we can count on significant increases in state aid for the next few years to stabilize the budget. For years, the state has underfunded West Orange but it is moving to remedy that situation.
In addition, the district is looking into developing other revenue streams to help supplement the operating budget. This includes both grants and alumni giving. Neither of these is a panacea, and they won’t radically reshape the budget. But they will provide support for key programs and help shore up our foundation.
On the other hand, we can use development to reallocate the tax burden in our community. Over 80% of the property value in West Orange is in residential properties [Source: Rutgers New Jersey Data Book]. We need to cultivate commercial properties that will shift that burden off of homeowners. There is a lot of potential in town, but we need to make it work for us.
While development may not fall in the purview of the Board of Education, it is incumbent on the Board to maintain a close relationship with the Town Council. That way the Board and the Council can work together to steer West Orange in the right direction.