Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Budget topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Superintendent presents proposed $49 million 2026–27 Saddle Brook School District budget; average homeowner impact about $399
Summary
District leaders presented a proposed 2026–27 budget of roughly $49 million, citing rising health-care costs and a state-aid shortfall as drivers of an estimated $399 average annual tax increase per home while saying staff and core student programs will be retained.
The Saddle Brook School District on Monday presented a proposed 2026–27 budget of about $49 million that district officials said would require a local tax levy increase and is driven largely by rising employee health-care costs and state-aid shortfalls. Superintendent (as identified in the meeting) said the draft budget holds current staff and student programs but relies on adjustments that will raise local property-tax bills for residents.
The presentation, led by the district’s budget presenters, explained the budget is organized into three funds: a general fund (about $47 million), a special-revenue fund for grants and earmarked awards, and a debt-service fund for principal and interest on prior referendums. The presenters said roughly 89% of the district’s revenue comes from the local tax levy and that the state funding formula and caps have limited the district’s state-aid growth.
"This is probably the worst slide of the whole presentation," the presenter said while describing the scale of levy and aid changes, adding that the district used available health-care and banked-cap adjustments to avoid widespread cuts.
Officials described the drivers of the increase: health-insurance and prescription costs that have pushed employee-benefit spending to roughly $8 million, and limitations in how much state aid the district receives compared with the formula. The presenters said the state allows adjustments for enrollment or health-care costs that can exceed a 2% levy cap; Saddle Brook applied those adjustments and used some previously banked cap to balance the budget instead of cutting positions broadly.
Superintendent (as identified in the meeting) emphasized that the district intends to retain existing staff and student programs, noting one position change: a middle-school Spanish teacher is being moved to fill a high-school Spanish vacancy, resulting in the formal elimination of one position but no net staff loss. The superintendent also announced an added girls-wrestling coach (a stipend position required by the interscholastic athletic association) and said curriculum work and professional development would continue, including extension of the Amplify literacy curriculum to grade 5.
Technology and capital items included in the proposal: replacement Chromebooks for students in grades 5 and 9 (to cascade to lower grades), iPads for child-study/assessment teams to support online testing, and planned facility work such as water-fountain upgrades, tile abatement, gym-floor refinishing, new science tables, and new risers at Washington School. The superintendent also described consideration of an electric van for small-group student transport tied to work-based learning placements.
The board opened the budget hearing to public comment; no members of the public spoke. Presenters said the tentative budget was previously approved by the board and returned by the county office as properly filed, and that the board expected to take final action at a subsequent meeting on Wednesday.
What’s next: presenters said the full budget document and a state-friendly budget summary are on the district website’s budget folder and that the board plans final adoption at its next meeting.
