Woodbridge township and school district have been $aving by sharing

by Sergio Bichao on Apr 29th | Email

One of the few times school officials and municipal governing bodies in most communities work together is after the defeat of the school budget at the polls.

But for years in Woodbridge, township and school officials have cooperated to pool resources and save money in the budgets of both governing bodies.

The Woodbridge Board of Education has nearly a dozen shared-services agreements and contracts with the township and other public agencies that save the school district on average $100,000 a year, district business administrator Dennis DeMarino said.

The agreements, some dating back 10 years, allow sharing of employees, equipment and buildings and bring in bulk rate discounts on purchases of supplies and equipment.

Township and school officials also have confirmed preliminary discussions about the possibility of the township providing custodial services to the schools. Custodians are among the 280 school employees expected to lose their jobs after the school board submitted a $182.5 million budget with $12 million in cuts to programs and jobs.

DeMarino said the district is requesting proposals from private custodial service companies. Custodians laid off from the district would have the opportunity to work for a private company or the township, but for less pay and fewer benefits, officials said.

Shared services are now more important than ever, Woodbridge officials say, because of the governor's push to reduce state aid and shore up the state's finances.

The township council is now reviewing a school budget that reflects an $8.7 million loss in state aid in Gov. Chris Christie's proposed state budget. Christie would also slash Wooodbridge's municipal aid by $5.9 million, which amounts to more than 9 percent of the municipal tax levy.

SAVING MONEY

• The township leases the Port Reading Library to the district for $1 a year for use as a school library. The former library had been vacant for five years before the deal was first struck in 2000. Using the library building allowed the district to convert the library at Port Reading Elementary School No. 9 into classrooms, DeMarino said.

• The township also leases five rooms at the Evergreen Center in Colonia to the district for $1 a year. The district uses the space to inventory computers and supplies.

• The district pays the township $37,000 a year to maintain ball fields at Woodbridge High School, which were upgraded in 2004 with a $1.9 million grant from the county.

• The township pays the district $14,000 a year to bus children in the township's recreation programs. “The township gets quotes (from private transportation companies) and we make sure to come in a little cheaper with enough to cover expenses of the driver, cost of gas and maintenance,” DeMarino said. “It saves them a few bucks.”

• The district has the township trim trees and patch or repave school parking lots. The township purchased paving equipment in 2007 for $529,000.

• The district uses the township's grant writer on a part-time basis and shares a technology coordinator and computer support staff with the township. The district also uses the township's cable television facilities.

• The district is part of three purchasing cooperatives, one with the township and also with the Hunterdon County Educational Services Commission and the Middlesex Regional Educational Services Commission. If the district needs to buy equipment or supplies, the cooperatives combine the district's order with orders from other districts to get a bulk rate discount. DeMarino said the cooperatives also review requests for proposals and bids, saving each district hundreds of dollars in extra legal fees.

• The district also pays the Asbury Park school district $70,000 to provide accounting and payroll services and software.

The Board of Education will meet at 7 p.m., May 18 at Oak Ridge Heights Elementary School No. 21, Inman Avenue, Colonia, to act on the township council's recommendation for the school budget.