Dear Editor:
On April 25th the Parsippany Board of Education met at Parsippany Hills High School to give out numerous awards to our students from our schools for their achievements and after a short recess, returned to conduct their normal business. There were three residents in attendance (including myself) and when the public comment portion of the meeting was opened no one opted to speak. The vote for the final adoption of the 2024-2025 budget of approximately $182 million passed unanimously. This budget stayed within the 2% cap without the need to cut services or programs to compensate the 1500+ staff (600+ of which are our teachers) and their benefits to serve the 7000+ students of the district.
This was a fiscally responsible budget. The district has a financial audit done every year and for the past six years, it has been a clean audit. This was all through COVID and the recent rise in inflation. I know about this since I served on the Board of Education during that time and the budget for the 2018-2019 school year was $150 million. That is only a $32 million increase or about 20% from that time.
Now there are some who think that there are opportunities where savings can occur and that the budget increases are significantly more than required. Where is it that is expected to be done? Discontinue an award-winning music program? Stop maintenance on one of the fourteen 50+ year old school buildings? Lay off large numbers of staff, many of whom live in Parsippany as well.
Over 75% of the budget is to pay staff and their benefits, and it is contractual. As a result, it does not allow for the significant cuts some may be proposing. Additionally, these budgets over time have allowed for capital improvements and more recently, an addition under construction at Littleton School, all without requiring a referendum that many other districts in New Jersey have had to do for projects such as door, window, and roof replacements. This is a testament to the fiscally responsible administration of the district.
I encourage you to watch Parsippany’s Video on the Go video “Beyond the Bell, Inside our District: Ep.1 School Budget” which was recently posted. It explains to the administration what goes into crafting this budget.
Matthew DeVitto
Former Parsippany BOE member (2018-2023)
Parsippany
