Evesham board approves tentative 2025-26 budget after heated public comment over 83 layoffs and program cuts

The Evesham Township School District board on March 18 approved a package of finance and operations items that included the district's tentative 2025-26 budget proposal, after a night of public comment in which dozens of students, parents, teachers and union leaders urged the board to find alternatives to cuts they said would harm students.

The budget presentation by Business Administrator Gregory Yates laid out a $85.66 million preliminary revenue plan and described a structural shortfall driven by lost state aid under the district's designation as an "S2" district and by rising costs. Yates told the board the district would use an enrollment adjustment of $2,336,320 to restore dozens of positions that had been listed for elimination in earlier drafts, but the plan still proposes eliminating 83 positions, about 10% of staff, and making other changes to save roughly $3.8 million in salaries and related costs.

The proposal released for tentative adoption would, according to district slides and the presentation, increase some class sizes at the elementary and middle-school levels, phase out health benefits for some paraprofessionals (with an exception for those with 20 or more years of service), end many elementary extracurricular clubs, restructure middle-school schedules to eliminate some team/independent study time, and outsource most transportation runs. The administration described those changes as painful steps required to produce a legally balanced budget.

Why it matters: The cuts target direct classroom supports and student services that board members, teachers and students said are critical to academic and social-emotional outcomes. Speakers warned that larger class sizes, the loss of independent study time and reductions in paraprofessional supports could reduce individualized help, interfere with IEP implementation and increase safety and supervision risks.

What the presenters said "We cannot spend a penny more than the revenue number," Yates said while explaining why the district must balance expenditures against an $85.66 million revenue projection. He said staffing accounts for about 58% of projected appropriations and that 76 cents of every dollar is already committed to salaries and benefits.

Superintendent Dr. Justin Smith acknowledged the human toll of the choices: "There's no combination of words that can be said that can take away the pain in the anchor from where we are," he told the meeting after public comment, and he thanked speakers for their input.

Public reaction More than 60 members of the public signed up to speak during the single public-comment period the board moved to the start of the meeting. Students spoke repeatedly about the loss of independent study time, the prospect of classes with 30—2+ students and the proposed removal of arts and music. Sixth- to eighth-grade students described independent study as time for makeup tests, teacher help and Tier 3 interventions.

"I am very sad and concerned about the proposed changes," said Elizabeth (Ellie) Miller, a sixth grader at DeMacy Middle School. "Increasing class size ... will greatly impact a teacher's ability to help all students." Quinn Johnson, another sixth grader, told the board that putting 35 students in a classroom would create "complete chaos."

Union leaders and teachers also addressed the board. Marissa Dettori, secretary of the Evesham Township Education Association, read the union's vote of no confidence in Dr. Smith on behalf of the ETEA and said 97% of voting members expressed no confidence. ETEA President Russ Bowles and other association officers warned the board of a potential loss of experienced paraprofessionals and teachers if benefits and positions are cut.

Several classroom teachers and specialists emphasized the role of team structures and independent-study periods at the middle school level in providing interventions, IEP supports and planning time. "Teams are those support systems," one teacher said, urging the board to consider a four-bucket model that some teams have tested this year as an alternative to the wholesale elimination of teams and independent study.

Board action and votes at a glance - Motion to move the second public-comment period (agenda item 15) to the start of the meeting: carried by roll call (Jaren Brown: yes; Mrs. Boutramowicz: yes; Mr. DeMarcy: yes; Miss Fox: yes; Mrs. Noll: yes; Mr. Thompson: yes; Mr. Peelman: yes; Mr. Bach: yes; Mr. Compton: yes). - Motion to approve the finance and operations package (agenda items 9.1'9.15): carried (roll-call recorded; some subitems had individual "no" votes). See detailed action record below.

Detailed actions recorded from the transcript - Motion: "Move second public comment (item 15) to the top of the meeting." Mover: Mr. Thompson; Second: Mr. DeMarcy. Roll call: Brown (yes), Boutramowicz (yes), DeMarcy (yes), Fox (yes), Noll (yes), Thompson (yes), Peelman (yes), Bach (yes), Compton (yes). Outcome: approved.

- Motion: "Approve finance and operations (items 9.1'9.15), including tentative budget adoption (item 9.12)." Mover: Mr. Thompson; Second: Mr. DeMarcy. Vote (roll-call recorded in transcript): Jaren Brown (yes for 9.1'9.11; no for 9.12; yes for the remainder), Mrs. Boutramowicz (yes on finance items called), Mr. DeMarcy (yes), Miss Fox (yes), Mrs. Noll (voted yes on 9.1'9.9; abstained on some subitems; recorded as no on 9.12), Mr. Thompson (yes on 9.1'9.11), Mr. Peelman (yes on 9.1'9.11; no on 9.12 and 9.13), Mr. Bach (yes), Mr. Compton (yes). The motion to approve the finance package carried on the board floor; individual roll-call entries in the transcript show at least three board members recorded "no" votes on agenda item 9.12 (tentative budget).

Discussion vs. decision The record distinguishes discussion from direction and from formal action. The board's public presentation and discussion of options (outsourcing transportation, selling property, altering schedules) remained proposals; the formal action the board took at the meeting was to approve the finance-and-operations motion as a package (with the roll-call votes recorded). Several board members and members of the public urged additional review and outreach to the state for aid and additional time before final adoption.

Community response and next steps Speakers asked the board to pursue short-term remedies (the sale or lease of district property mentioned by several speakers), to press state legislators for additional aid, and to pursue program-level compromises such as a four-bucket middle-school model that some teachers said could retain teams and independent-study time while saving money.

The tentative budget will be revisited at future meetings in the budget-adoption window; under district procedure the board must adopt a final budget by the state deadline. Several speakers and some board members said they planned to take advocacy to Trenton seeking adjustments to state funding rules the district said reduced its aid by roughly $7 million annually compared with pre-2018 levels.

Ending After more than five hours of presentations and public comment, board members thanked the speakers and administrators and moved to additional agenda items. The board's tentative action on finance and operations allows the administration to continue planning, but many stakeholders said they will press for changes before final adoption.