Board approves tentative 2025–26 budget; expands preschool as state aid falls

Robbinsville Board of Education on March 25 approved a tentative 2025–26 budget that maintains current services, expands preschool capacity and relies on a health-care adjustment and preschool aid to close a multi-million-dollar gap caused by lower state aid and rising insurance and contractual costs.

Board and district leaders said the plan expands the district's preschool program from 14 to 18 classrooms, offsets roughly $750,000 in operating costs by charging preschool its share of fixed building costs and uses a health-benefit adjustment that administrators said makes the budget workable for next year. The presentation projected a fully loaded tax impact of about 5.45 percent on typical property tax bills; the administration said the average homeowner would pay about $377 more next year under the fully loaded scenario presented to the public.

Why it matters: The budget responds to an administration estimate of repeated state aid cuts and unusually high health-insurance increases this year. District officials called the proposal a preservation-first budget that would protect programs while shifting staffing and other expenses where enrollment has changed.

District leaders described the budget as a layered package of measures rather than a single fix. The business administrator, Nick McCreese, announced outside grant awards and said the district had secured a federal NSLP grant to replace a cold-food service bar at the middle school. "Some good news. We won a grant of over $12,000 for a new cold bar at the Pond Road Middle School cafeteria," McCreese said during the presentation.

Superintendent Dr. Pizzo and other administrators said a key tool for this year's budget is an allowable health-care adjustment from the state and the new preschool revenue stream. "This was accomplished with the full collaboration of the board and administration focused on what is best for our children," Dr. Pizzo said while reviewing objectives of the plan. He said the district sought to apply the full health-care adjustment and the allowed tax-cap increases while using natural attrition to align staffing with where students are served.

What the budget does and does not do: According to the presentation, the tentative budget will: - Maintain current athletics, clubs and courtesy busing levels. - Preserve classroom programs and curriculum initiatives (LinkIt, Atlas, i-Ready, IXL). - Expand preschool capacity (projected additional classrooms) that the administration expects will generate roughly $4 million in preschool-related revenue next year as the program grows. - Fund targeted technology upgrades and planned facilities improvements; Sharon Elementary is scheduled for an extensive renovation this summer paid from capital reserves with anticipated state reimbursement (about 40 percent) after project completion.

Officials repeatedly flagged two risks: (1) continuing annual state aid reductions (administration projected roughly $300,000 in additional cuts next year), and (2) a health-care environment with multi-percent increases (the presentation cited an approximate 13.5 percent insurance premium rise). Business staff said reserves have fallen and will need to be rebuilt over time.

Staffing and class size: Administrators said they would rely mainly on attrition to make any necessary reductions and shift positions toward buildings and programs where student counts are rising. When asked about class sizes, administrators said general-education class sizes would remain in the district's target range (roughly 22'24 students per classroom) despite staff reallocations.

Capital and long-range: The presentation listed capital projects including a multi-million-dollar Sharon Elementary renovation (most of the building to be redone this summer) and smaller capital purchases (copiers, Promethean boards, kitchen equipment). The district said it will front project costs and then seek state reimbursement where applicable.

Votes and formal actions from the meeting: the board recorded these items in the meeting's business actions. The transcript of the meeting indicates the board approved a tentative budget for 2025'26 and approved standard monthly resolutions; the public record for final adoption will occur at the April 29 public meeting when the board is scheduled to vote on the final budget.

Ending: The administration and board said they will present a final budget in April and continue to monitor state aid and health-care changes through contract and legislative developments. Administrators said they will pursue grants and revenue opportunities to mitigate the projected "pinch point" two to three years out when certain debt-service payments peak.