Hoboken School Board Approves $63 Million Budget; Keeping Taxes Flat

The school board adopted the final budget for the 2012-2013 school year on Tuesday night in a 7-1 vote.

Board member Maureen Sullivan voted "no" and board member Carmelo Garcia was absent.

"We need to show some fiscal responsibility," Sullivan said. "I vote 'no' and I'm proud to do it."

The budget's tax levy remains flat for the second year in a row. The budget itself, however, has gone up through grants and other funding.

Roughly 60 percent of the $63 million will be raised by taxes. 

The biggest chunk of the budget, about 60 percent, will be spent on salary and wages for the district's employees. Four new staff members—among them a special teacher for autistic students—will be added next school year. 

Ten percent of the budget will go toward the city's charter schools.

Since last year, the cost per pupil has gone up by about $210 per student, totalling $23,058 per student in a Hoboken public school. In the 2010-2011 school year, cost per pupil was $22,646 and in 2011-2012 the cost per pupil was $22,848.

An estimated 2,162 students will attend Hoboken's public schools in the upcoming school year. 

The amount the district spends on legal fees per pupil is $106, down from last year's $124 and the year before's $126, but still about 130 percent of the regional average.