Schools reaching out to voters

There's no telling if the Swedesboro-Woolwich School District has persuaded voters to approve its proposed budget on Wednesday, but it's not for lack of trying.

One recent evening, teachers volunteered to amuse district children so their parents could attend a budget briefing by school officials.

A committee of about 50 community members has worked to inform neighbors of the need for passage. The district's Facebook page has information about the difficulty of providing quality education to a rapidly growing enrollment with lagging state funding.

And during the bus ride to one of Gov. Christie's town-hall meetings, Superintendent Victor Valeski tweeted residents to support the district's press for more state aid.

If voters reject the budget, Valeski has said, the district will have to get rid of 10 teachers, and classes could balloon to 34 students, up from the mid-20s.

"It's so important this year that we pass the budget," he said.

Swedesboro-Woolwich and Kingsway Regional, the local high school district with similar issues, share a difficult challenge: persuading voters to approve tax-levy increases that exceed New Jersey's new 2 percent cap. (Both have been granted waivers by the state to seek the higher levy.)

Other South Jersey districts have made extra efforts to reach out to voters this year.

"I think they've felt a need to do that since last year. You need to communicate the good and the bad things," said Frank Belluscio, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association. "If they weren't already communicating, they found there was a need to do so."

Like the teachers who volunteered in Gloucester County, observers say, education locals have helped get the word out.

"We are seeing a high level of engagement, a high level of activity," said Steve Baker, a spokesman for the New Jersey Education Association.

Overall, the tone of this budget season has been calmer than last year, when an $820 million cut in aid to schools resulted in deep staff reductions, gutted programs, and the introduction of student activity fees. After voters rejected requested levies in 59 percent of the state's districts, some budgets underwent further trims.

The number of school board candidates this year has increased for the first time since 2006 - 2,222 compared with 2,055 in 2010. Belluscio attributed the increase to more parents becoming involved as a result of last year's budget drama.

On the fiscal front, one difference this time is the lower cap on how much districts can raise the amount of tax they collect, Belluscio said. Previously, the cap was 4 percent. Not wanting to risk the wrath of voters and mindful of hard economic times, many districts have worked to come in below the 2 percent cap.

In addition, many districts crafted their budgets in anticipation of another aid cut, based on guidance from the state.

Instead, Christie's proposed budget calls for a modest increase - about $249 million - that would restore roughly a fifth of the money that districts lost. That allowed some to make restorations or provide residents with tax relief.

Yet many costs to school districts are up, and the economy is still ailing. During the year, district leaders say they have attempted to make residents aware of the issues the schools face and their efforts to respect taxpayers' concerns.

"It's not just about the budget," said Haddonfield superintendent Richard Perry, who has chatted with voters at Starbucks and met with the heads of parent-teacher groups. "It's about everything that's been going on in education."

In recent months, the high-performing district has marketed itself to out-of-district families who might be willing to pay tuition to enroll their children.

This year, voters in Washington Township will be encouraged via e-mail to turn out at the polls, through the district's Global Connect system. In years past, reminder notes were sent home with students, who may not have given them to their parents.

"We feel pretty confident we will be reaching a lot of people this year," said Jan Giel, district spokeswoman.

"We're using every means we have to convince people to come out to vote," said Riverside superintendent Robert Goldschmidt.

In Riverside, voters have been asked to approve a levy that would increase taxes collected by 2 percent. The budget calls for restoring two of the eight teachers cut last year and bringing back a municipal police officer to conduct programs in the schools. Passage would mean $54.43 more in taxes on a home assessed at $153,932, the township average.

In addition, voters will decide if the district can pay for new bleachers at its athletic field, which is also used by township groups. The old ones were removed after they were found to be a safety risk, Goldschmidt said. That would raise taxes by $22.37 a year, or under $2 a month.

"This will make the facility better for the community as well as the schools," he said.

Cherry Hill officials have reached out to voters, hoping they will support a budget that requires $500,000 less in taxes than last year. The tax rate still would increase slightly, to offset the decline in tax receipts due to declining property values.

"Our biggest concern this year is complacency," said district spokeswoman Susan Bastnagel, who noted that "even a budget that reduces the levy can be defeated. A defeated budget will mean cuts."

Kingsway officials have held community meetings and sessions with small groups to explain the district's financial troubles that are due to circumstances outside its control, according to Superintendent James Lavender. It is one of seven districts in the state with a so-called second question to fund a program or position beyond the cap.

The district also has employed social media in its information campaign. It has tried to convey to voters the sense of a responsibly managed district that could suffer if the levy failed.

"Now it is up to our community members to decide how important our schools are to them," Lavender said.