Increase in State Aid to MapSo School district

In the budget released by Gov. Murphy, it looks like our school district can expect an increase of $882,621, a 15.76% increase over last year.

https://www.nj.com/education/2020/02/heres-how-much-money-every-nj-school-district-gets-in-state-funding-shakeup.html

It's a great boost but I can't even begin to imagine how the district could best use it. My feeling is to go for facility improvements, finding the most pressing maintenance problems such as older heating systems that cost money for frequent repairs in the long run.

Or what about solar panel installations across several of the school buildings to offset electricity costs going forward? It's a lot of surface area that could be used but I don't know much about the economics of it. 

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Solar was discussed as part of the recent renovation bond, but the roofs need so much reinforcement that it would never pay.  I'd try to put the money in classrooms buy hiring more teachers, or in the libraries.


FilmCarp said:

Solar was discussed as part of the recent renovation bond, but the roofs need so much reinforcement that it would never pay.  I'd try to put the money in classrooms buy hiring more teachers, or in the libraries.

Now I seem to remember that about the solar discussion. 

Is the district short on teachers right now? My one problem with committing to something like more teachers is what happens if the state aid number drops again? Then we're on the hook for a larger payroll.  Investing in technology or infrastructure seems more prudent to me.

I just hope it doesn't get spent on consultants. 


How about bringing the support staff in-house instead of making them contractors?


mrincredible said:

Now I seem to remember that about the solar discussion. 

Is the district short on teachers right now? My one problem with committing to something like more teachers is what happens if the state aid number drops again? Then we're on the hook for a larger payroll.  Investing in technology or infrastructure seems more prudent to me.

I just hope it doesn't get spent on consultants. 

 Our district does a pretty good job of not wasting gobs of money.  Hire teachers, and reassess next year if needed.  Even with the bond, there are also a lot of repairs that can be done.  But to me, the ultimate end goal of a school system is to put good teachers in front of students.  That is where the tire meets the road, as far as getting a good education.


So would your goal be to reduce class sizes? Do we have a less favorable teacher:student ratio than other school systems?


I see some gaps.  We lost a science teacher early in the year and just folded those kids into another class.  Every year we start with one or two slots at each school empty for various reasons.  Some of the single term courses could benefit from stronger teachers, and at the middle school level several teachers split time between both middle schools, basically making them unavailable after school if help is needed.  

.  Overall I'm happy with our schools.  I don't want to be misunderstood.  I just see a few places where it could improve.  



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