By Brenda Flanagan
Correspondent
You could hear a pin drop in the almost empty auditorium as Newark’s school superintendent and the supervisory board of education trudged through a special budget hearing at Park Elementary last night. The only thing missing was the fired up crowd that turned last week’s meeting into a protest-palooza.
But last night, with teachers away at their annual conference, the same tensions surfaced in more muted fashion. Superintendent Chris Cerf reassured board members, parents and teachers that district finances looked healthier, and that the current $13 million budget gap will close despite flat funding from the state.
“I am confident as superintendent in reporting we will end the year in balance,” Cerf said.
“At no time, whether from July until now or going forward in the year, have we compromised the integrity of the classrooms at schools,” said Valerie Wilson, School Bus Admin.
But board member Donald Jackson didn’t buy that, and claimed Cerf’s predecessor, the controversial Cami Anderson, “…left this district in financial shambles, and now we are scrambling to try to save this district, financially. It is atrocious what we are doing,” he said.
Public school parents complained about the board’s approving charter expansion in Newark — saying that it hurts education in the public classroom. They also complained about this meeting in the North Ward.
“Come on. Y’all should’ve denied that. We are hurting. Our students, our kids are hurting because of the lack of the quality of education,” said Lucious Jones.
But a few charter school parents complained that state funds aren’t fairly distributed.
“I’m not too sure about the formula funding. How’s that work with the charter schools getting only, I think it’s 90 percent that they get?” said Floiesha Johnson.
The board explained per pupil charter kids get $14,000 and public school kids, $16,000, but the formula’s set by Trenton lawmakers. The meeting adjourned with old rifts and tensions unresolved.