Cranbury School Board Presents Budget Limitations

[Guest]

The Cranbury Board of Education held a preliminary public hearing on the 2011-2012 budget Tuesday night. While no resolutions or official plans were made, the board gave a presentation on issues facing the district, after which the public had a chance to offer ideas on how to make next year’s budget a success.

Making extracurricular activities “pay-to-play” was suggested by several residents, including Carlene Reyes. She said that since “core education has to be covered,” it might make fiscal sense to have certain activities–such as athletics and band–be paid for by the parents of participating students. This would lower the school’s cost in these areas, which would theoretically allow the district additional breathing room.

Not every family would necessarily have the money for the proposed system, however, and board member Kevin Fox wanted the public to understand this point.

“There may be people in town who actually don’t have the money to do those things and no child should be left behind,” he said. “We should figure out a way to be equitable to those who may not be able to” afford the pay-to-play plan.

Bill Schraudenbach, a member of the board and chairman of its Finance Committee, said the pay-to-play system is worth discussing but that it might be difficult to determine which activities are “extracurricular” and which ones aren’t.

http://eastwindsor.patch.com/articles/cranbury-school-board-presents-budget-limitations

[Guest]

I doubt that most people in Cranbury would have trouble ponying up a few coins for their kinder to engage in activities. The township does have an above average income relative to other towns in NJ.
Only families with a lot of kids would be affected by this.
If anyone does show a need for financial assistance, I'm sure that arrangements could be made for them.
Maybe, we could use some of that leftover COAH money?