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Haddonfield board told rising benefits, utilities and falling aid leave district hundreds of thousands short
Summary
School officials told the board the draft 2025–26 budget faces a shortfall after benefits and utility cost increases outpace the district's allowable 2% tax levy; officials said they are cutting nonstudent-facing items and reviewing federal grant budgeting to balance the budget.
Board members and staff in the Haddonfield School District heard a detailed preview of the district's 2025'26 budget challenges, including a benefits cost increase and higher utility bills that together outstrip the district's allowable property tax increase.
District presenters said the district can raise the local tax levy by 2%, an amount they said equals $820,613. They said benefits costs are projected to rise to $862,604 — about $40,000 more than the 2% margin — and that the district recently lost $72,000 in state aid. They also reported an expected increase of roughly $115,000 in electric costs. Taken together, officials said these items create a gap of about $1,049,000 against the district's available 2% levy increase.
The administration framed the shortfall as significant because roughly three-quarters of the district's budget is salaries and benefits and therefore hard to cut. That leaves smaller discretionary categories to absorb increases. The presenters said ongoing cost pressures also include rising costs for contracted behavioral services and annual renewals for digital instructional materials.
Board members and staff described steps they are already taking: meeting with account owners to identify discretionary cuts, probing contractual renegotiations with third-party providers, and prioritizing cuts that do not reduce student safety or direct classroom instruction. Administrators also said they would examine non-student-facing administrative expenses first and continue to refine assumptions for salary increases and other negotiated costs.
Officials noted an additional conservative assumption in this budget cycle: federal grant revenues (IDEA and other ESEA grants) are being budgeted at a lower percentage than in past years. Presenters said the district has been advised to budget only 75% of some federal grant projections rather than the 85% it had used historically, and that this change alone reduces revenue assumptions by roughly $100,000 in the draft budget.
The board did not take a final vote on a tentative budget at the time of the report. Officials said a tentative budget adoption and additional materials will appear on upcoming agendas and asked the board to expect a tight process of further reductions or revenue adjustments before the next public hearing on the budget.
Ending: Administrators said they will return with refined figures and specific reduction options; board members asked staff to continue exploring shared-service arrangements with neighboring districts and to seek any feasible contract savings before consulting further cuts that would affect students.
