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“You are doing this on the backs of the children” exclaimed the Readington school board President to the Readington Township Committee members on May 16. He was referring to the resolution of the township committee to cut funds from the school budget based on the overwhelming defeat by the voters of the original proposal. Another nearly hysterical school board member asked the township committee members with children or grandchildren in the schools if they “want to look those children in the eye and tell them why programs were cut?” More board members and former board members got up to make similar points.

The May 16 Readington Township Committee meeting was anything but dull. It started with a quiet refutation of swirling rumors by committee member Tom Auriemma. He put to rest the Chicken Little stories of cuts or elimination of courtesy busing, extra curricular sports, “AP” classes, and similar silliness. After the board members and public had time to make statements, the committee members made some of their own points, many of which centered on the demographics of the school district.

Julia Allen noted that the number of students in district is an issue. There is attrition due to fewer numbers of students entering the system, and her knowledge of the downward trend on issuing Certificates of Occupancy illustrates that there is nothing on the horizon indicating vast new numbers of students on the way. Mr. Shamey noted his disappointment in the negotiation process with the school board. Whenever a line item was questioned, he was invariably told there was never a dime to spare. The school board apparently offered cuts of up to $216,000.00 and offered no further room for compromise with the committee. The committee members, meanwhile, took note of the 72 student shortfall from projections of demographics during the time the school additions were approved. At $10,000.00 per student, that equals $720,000.00 that is not required for what was a projected population.

Finally, Frank Gatti had to bring the talk to an end. “Time is out,” he said, and he called for a motion. A minute later the committee had passed a resolution to require the school board to reduce the budget by $720,000.00.

Our Readington committee members ran up against some of the same intransigence from the school board that parents and residents have faced during this school year. Committee members were open to reasonable compromise, but they had a mandate from voters and no help from certain school leaders who have trouble seeing beyond the end of their collective nose. Now that our school leaders have a number set in stone, how will they reduce our budget?

There is $720,000.00 to cut without affecting students. Come September there will be enough money to turn the classroom lights on, to keep them heated, and to pay the salaries of teachers. The sky will stay put despite the rantings of Chicken Littles. If our administration has learned a lesson, they will put an end to some pet programs, reduce the money spent on outside consultants, reduce legal fees, eliminate spending on needless standardized testing programs, and spend less time in expensive seminars. They will be more selective about vendors and put off some purchases of administrative software and similar items that will not make a bit of difference in the lives of our students. In short, the fat is there to be trimmed, but it will depend on their motivation whether the meat is cut off instead of the fat.

Should our school leaders choose to cut off their meaty nose to spite their face, we must judge them accordingly. It would be foolish not to hire aides so that non-required standardized testing programs can continue, for example. This is especially accurate when one considers that the new Harcourt-Brace literacy program has assessments built-in for free. There are always choices to make, and now we must be very specific about how we examine those choices. We do have some positive momentum in the selection of new administrative staff, eager new board members, and more. We can use the events of May 16 to boost that momentum or we can choose to simply wallow in bitterness and finger-pointing. The choice will follow from the actions of our school leaders.