Haddon Twp. school system approves layoffs, but new aid saves 6 jobs

HADDON TWP. — Newly approved state funding means a half-dozen township school employees are keeping their jobs, but the district still plans to eliminate a handful of positions for the 2024-25 academic year.

The Board of Education voted Thursday night to approve staff revisions based on the new aid program. As of last week, the district was contemplating as many as 13 positions to eliminate under the budget adopted on May 2.

The school board and administration still heard a stream of criticism from residents, many of them teachers in neighboring districts. There was general relief that the only librarian/media specialist in the district was safe, though.

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Superintendent Robert Fisicaro identified the positions being retained as: Counselor, nurse, Mandarin language teacher, media specialist/librarian, network technician, and math teacher.

The positions being eliminated are: Music teacher, middle school social studies teacher, district counselor, elementary school reading teacher, and part-time middle school physical education teacher.

“I would encourage you to continue to give the administration, the Board of Education, a little bit more of the gift of time,” Fisicaro said at one point in the meeting. “We just received this state aid funding back. I was in Trenton on Thursday. This is the shortest runway we ever have had.”

Haddon Township is among many districts that had their regular state funding unexpectedly reduced for next year. Fisicaro said the district will be requesting the Department of Treasury data that was used to justify those reductions.

Fisicaro testified at a May 9 state Senate hearing on the special funding bill. Gov. Murphy signed the bill on May 14.

The superintendent said the district should receive $362,000 for next year from the new program. That amount is about less than half the $806,000 the state took away from the district.

As part of the emergency relief, some districts can decide whether to revise their property tax levy to exceed the normal 2-percent annual cap. However, Haddon Township does not qualify.

Besides the unanticipated state funding cut, Haddon Township also has a budget gap because of significant cost increases in other programs and especially in special education programs. Ahead of the May 2 budget hearing, the district revenue-expense gap was about $1.2 million.

In addition to librarian Amanda Tagmire, one rallying point for residents was the elimination of a music teacher position held by Lisa Huff.  She was present but did not speak, but her husband Alan did.

“It was of note to many there were no administrative cuts,” Alan Huff said.

Huff said that, besides a general need for music teachers, his wife was one of just four “teachers of color” in the district.

“Was ‘equity’ considered?” Huff asked.

Sandra Skarstedt protested the pending loss of the district’s Gifted and Talented Program teacher. Students like her daughter went without assistance until the position was created in 2020, she said.

“If Haddon Township could not comply with the Gifted and Talented laws before hiring a designated teacher, how does Haddon Township expect to identify and provide services to the student population without one?” Skarstedt said.

Joe Smith is a N.E. Philly native transplanted to South Jersey 36 years ago, keeping an eye now on government in South Jersey. He is a former editor and current senior staff writer for The Daily Journal in Vineland, Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, and the Burlington County Times.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Haddon spreads 5 layoffs across district, new aid saves some positions