Hunterdon Central Regional High School District Superintendent Jessica Candelosi Haid and Business Administrator Heather Spitzer presented the district's tentative 2025'26 budget at the board meeting Tuesday, then the board voted to approve the proposed budget and related capital reserve and maintenance reserve withdrawals.

The presentation and discussion focused on several budgetary pressures and offsets. Spitzer said the district is projecting 171 students will attend county vocational academies next year, a shift that reduces Hunterdon Central's counted enrollment and therefore state aid while creating tuition and transportation costs. "We send students to the vocational academies and we do not get to count those students in our enrollment count," Spitzer said. She told the board the district estimated $10,163 in tuition per academy student this year and that the 171-student projection was a March estimate that could change before August.

Spitzer described long-term declines in state aid and enrollment: "In the last 8 years, we have lost $927,000 in state aid," she said, and reported a 10-year enrollment decline of 785 students (about 26.25%). She said state aid decreased roughly 13.61% over the last decade and that the district received a modest increase this year that was nevertheless a small fraction of the budget.

The presentation listed other cost drivers: utility costs up about 49.71% over two years with an additional 20% budgeted for the coming year; a requested 22% increase for three Class 3 officers under contract with the Raritan Township Police Department; property and casualty insurance projected to rise about 15%; and continuing increases in cyber insurance, unemployment, workers' compensation and disability costs. On employee health benefits, Spitzer described the effects of recent law and plan choices: "Since Chapter 44 went into effect, our district is down $717,799," she said, and explained that new employees must enroll in either an Employer Health Plan (EHP) or the Garden State plan, which limits out-of-state provider coverage.

Spitzer and Candelosi Haid also described budget actions taken to limit the tax levy increase to the 2% cap. They reported administrative reorganization and attrition yielding roughly $180,000 in year-over-year savings, transportation-route adjustments reducing the budget by about $475,000, and the use of capital and maintenance reserves and investment income to offset operating costs. Spitzer said roughly 73.6% of the general-fund budget is for staffing (about 49.6% salaries and 23.9% benefits).

Capital projects presented for 2025 included roof work and infrastructure items, with approximately 40% of eligible costs identified for reimbursement through ROD grants. Spitzer noted that the district's capital-reserve withdrawals make the year-over-year capital portion appear to decline by about $1.89 million, but that such reductions mainly reflect timing of projects rather than operating savings.

After the presentation the board's operations and transportation committee moved to approve the annual travel and reimbursement motions, the capital reserve projects, the maintenance-reserve withdrawals and the proposed 2025'26 tentative budget for submission to the executive county superintendent. The motion was seconded and carried on a roll-call vote with all members present voting yes.

The administration said the tentative budget will be delivered to the Department of Education on the next business day, the public hearing on the budget will be advertised at least four days before the hearing, and the public hearing is scheduled for April 28. Spitzer said the district will post the user-friendly budget on the district website within the two-day window required after advertisement.

Board members and residents asked follow-up questions. A resident asked whether the district can provide a sending-district breakout for the 171 vocational-enrolled students; Spitzer said that level of detail can be compiled and acknowledged it would be useful. Several board members thanked Spitzer and the administration for keeping the tax levy at or below the 2% cap while maintaining programs.

No further formal budget actions were taken at the meeting beyond the board's approval of the proposed budget and associated capital and maintenance reserve authorizations; the tentative budget will proceed to the county and state review process.