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West Orange board adopts preliminary 2025–26 budget with 2.3% tax levy; officials warn of multimillion-dollar shortfall
Summary
The West Orange Board of Education on March 17 adopted a preliminary 2025–26 budget that uses the district's bank cap and a 2.3% tax levy; Superintendent Hayden Moore said state aid cuts and rising costs still leave a multimillion-dollar deficit and could require staff reductions if additional revenue is not found.
The West Orange Board of Education adopted a preliminary 2025–26 budget on March 17, voting to use available bank cap revenue and a 2.3% tax levy as administrators warned that state aid reductions and rising operating costs still leave a multimillion-dollar shortfall.
Superintendent Hayden Moore presented the proposal, saying district enrollment rose to 7,191 this year from 6,876 last year (an increase of 315 students). Moore said the district has seen about $1 million in decreased state aid and other cuts, including an $850,000 reduction in transportation reimbursement and a drop in Medicaid-related reimbursements from about $286,000 to $38,000. He described scenarios the district studied: a 0% tax levy would create roughly a $1 million deficit requiring cuts of approximately 110–120 full‑time equivalent positions, while using the bank cap and the 2.3% levy still left the district facing an estimated $8 million shortfall that could force cuts of roughly 80–90 positions.
“Without added state support, these numbers leave us with very difficult choices,” Moore said during the presentation. He urged the community to review the slides, which will be posted on the district website, and noted the county review and final vote timeline: county review on April 25 and the final budget vote on May 5.
Board members framed the vote as a reluctant but necessary step to avoid deeper, immediate cuts. President Brian Rock and other members said adopting the 2.3% levy is intended to avoid "self-inflicted harm" while the board and administration continue to search for alternatives and solicit suggestions from staff and the public.
At the meeting's roll call on the motion to approve finance items (which included the preliminary budget), Dr. Dia Bryant abstained; Mr. Eric Stevenson, Miss Maria Vera, Vice President Robert Ifer and President Brian Rock voted yes. The motion passed.
The board emphasized that the preliminary budget does not finalize programmatic decisions and that administrators have not adopted specific personnel reductions. Board members and Mr. Moore said they would continue to analyze line items and invited staff and community suggestions to reduce the deficit while trying to preserve classroom instruction and essential services.
Next procedural steps: the county will review the budget on April 25, and the district will hold a public vote on the final budget on May 5. The administration and board said they will provide further detail about proposed cuts and alternatives at upcoming meetings.
