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West Orange board adopts $200.5 million 2025–26 budget, citing $9 million structural shortfall and staff reductions
Summary
The West Orange Board of Education adopted a $200,489,456 general‑fund budget for 2025–26 after administrators outlined a roughly $9 million structural deficit driven by falling temporary federal funds, lower state aid and rising nondiscretionary costs. The board approved staff reductions and capital‑project deferrals while holding the tax levy to a 2.3% increase.
The West Orange Board of Education on May 5 adopted its fiscal year 2025–26 general‑fund budget of $200,489,456 after a public hearing and a presentation by Superintendent Hayden Moore and Business Administrator Tanya Flowers that outlined a multi‑year funding gap.
Flowers told the board that expiration of temporary federal relief funds, a recent drop in state aid and sustained increases in nondiscretionary costs — notably salaries, benefits, special‑education tuition and transportation — combined to create a structural shortfall of about $9 million in the district’s recurring revenue outlook. She said state aid fell by roughly 6% (about $2.3 million) in the most recent reporting period and that transportation and benefit costs have risen sharply over the last several years.
To close the gap, the administration proposed a package of reductions and reconfigurations that includes central‑office trimming, targeted reductions at preschool and school sites, and program consolidations. Flowers presented a…
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