LACEY, NJ — Following the adoption of a budget that increased property taxes by 9.9 percent and still had to make cuts, Lacey Township School District officials are preparing for the 2025-26 budget which will likely bring “another round of painful reductions.”
Superintendent Vanessa Pereira brought this up at a recent Board of Education meeting, mentioning that the next budget, “assuming nothing changes,” has a dismal outlook.
“We’re more than likely going to be talking about pay to participate, more program reductions, reduction of more staff,” she said.
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Pereira noted the topic of courtesy busing, which is something that the district had discussed cutting since January and has made parents upset. The elimination of courtesy busing means that students who live too close to the schools will not qualify for free transportation to school – and in some areas of town, walking to school is not a safe task.
The district analyzed courtesy busing and determined that subscription busing for these students would cost about $1,100 per student, Pereira said.
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“We know that’s a lot of money,” Pereira said. “But that is what a full route would cost to fill that bus.”
She said the district is still working to see if maybe that number could be reduced.
The district also sent out about 400 surveys to families impacted by the loss of courtesy busing. They received 111 responses and of those, only five families said they would be willing to pay.
“That speaks volumes,” Pereira said, but added that they’re still exploring solutions, including a potential “before school supervision” where parents can drop off students before the actual school day starts.
The board also said the district is looking into further revenue options, including a possible letter writing campaign to support school funding legislation.
Another option is naming rights for the high school and middle school sports complexes, looking at a three-year contract of $75,000 a year. Naming rights are also being explored for the middle school gym and cafetorium, and at the high school for the gym there and the auditorium.
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