Cranbury budget goes to voters

[news]

chool board hopefuls also will be decided

Voters will have their chance Tuesday to vote on the 2006-07 school budget and to elect three school board members.
Three incumbent candidates are running unopposed for each of the three-year seats: Joan Rue, Lynne Schwarz and Bill Schraudenbach.

Voters also will decide on a $14.8 million spending plan that would raise $13.8 million in taxes for the general fund.
The proposed plan would increase taxes by 3.2 percent in 2006-2007 and result in a 7.04-cent increase in the school tax rate, to $2.252 per $100 of assessed valuation. If approved by voters, the owner of a house assessed at the township average of $225,000 would pay $5,067 in school taxes, an increase of $158 from the current year.

Driving the increase is the need for more teachers, due to increasing enrollment, an increase in faculty salaries and benefits, and higher tuition costs for Princeton High School.

The district plans to hire an additional fifth-grade teacher, an upper grade English teacher, and will pay extra for music, art and other special area teachers. The board also will hire a full-time special education teacher, a part-time speech teacher and a part-time physical education teacher.

(more...)