Public Hearing on Berkeley School Budget On Tap For Tonight

No layoffs and under cap.

That's Berkeley schools Superintendent Joseph H. Vicari's quick take on the 2012-2013 school budget up for a public hearing at 6:30 p.m. tonight at the Berkeley Township Elementary School.

"We meet the needs of all students in Berkeley Township," Vicari said this morning. "There are no cutbacks. We were very careful to make sure we checked every area to see if there were any cost savings."

The budget includes full-time kindergarten and the addition of a special education teacher, he said.

The budget is under the state-mandated two percent cap on the amount to be raised by taxation by $535,446, Vicari said.

"The tax levy is lower for several years in a row," he said.

That means residents will not be voting on the school budget, following the decision to move school elections to November earlier this year.

The total budget is $33,286,037, which includes $1,890,425 in debt service.

Vicari said he will also consider a request to stay on as superintendent for another two months at the meeting tonight.

His contract with the Board of Education runs from April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.

"They've asked me to stay another 60 days," he said. "I have to make that decision tonight."

Vicari said earlier this year he would be stepping down before the April school board elections. But the school elections have now been moved to November.

Vicari had served as Berkeley schools superintendent for six years when he  returned to the district on April 1, 2011 after a two-year absence.

A previous board in 2008 refused to renew his contract. Vicari has always contended the move was engineered by the Democratic majority on the board and was illegal.

Before he returned in 2011, . But state law requires that a certified school administrator be paid a minimum salary of $18,500. He receives no benefits, mileage or travel expenses.