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Schools

Amid Seitz Contract Controversy, BOE Discusses New School Budget

Superintendent lists state aid, surplus as crucial factors in forthcoming school spending plan.

Parsippany Superintendent of Schools LeRoy Seitz offered a preview Tuesday night of the 2012-13 school budget at Tuesday night's meeting. The plan, currently being developed, is expected to go before voters for approval in April.

The budget presentation came amid uncertainty regarding .

In July, the school boardunder pressure from County Executive Superintendent Kathleen Serafino to comply with Gov. Chris Christie's salary cap regulations. The and again drew the ire of renewed her threat to take back up to $3.6 million in state aid. Last week, the to comply with the cap.

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It is not known whether the board will be able to hammer out a new agreement with Seitz, Parsippany's superintendent since 2006. Seitz, in response to a question from a resident Tuesday, said only that the matter is unresolved and remains in litigation.

The superintendent began the meeting with an effort to move beyond the controversy which has dominated so many meetings by outlining the challenges in front of the board as it begins the arduous task of preparing its 2012-13 budget.

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Numerous reductions in recent yearsfrom staffing cuts to courtesy busing eliminationshave left the district with "less and less wiggle room" to effectuate further changes, Seitz said.

Seitz asked the board to give his administration guidance as to its programming objectives and financial preferences. He presented scenarios ranging from one that would spare property owners a tax levy increase to another that would rise taxes by 4 percent.

Anything that does get cut, Seitz warned, is unlikely to be revived any time soon.

"When we cut something, it can't be with the expectation that we're going to reinstate it the following year," he said.

Seitz said the district, in trying to develop its next budget, faces numerous challenges of the unknown.

The district, Seitz noted, likely will not know its exact state aid figurean allocation that has fluctuated wildly in recent yearsbefore mid-March. Parsippany received around $4 million less from the state for the 2011-12 school year than it did two years earlier, Seitz said, though last year's figure was $2 million higher than the figure the district received for the 2010-11 school year.

that remains murky.

"The one thing I can't do at this point is tell you if we'll have a surplus," Seitz said, adding later, "We are going to do our best to generate a surplus."

President Frank Calabria said the board would provide some direction in order to help the administration proceed with the budget process next month.

Around 20 people attended Tuesday's meeting.

Calabria, in an effort to keep the meeting moving, asked residents wishing to speak to adhere to the same five-minute limit imposed by the Town Council. The meeting lasted until 9 p.m., when the board exited into a discussion in executive session.

Before leaving, Calabria offered a veiled response to a resident who asked about the Seitz contract matter and what role it might play moving forward.

"I like to think that issue was taken care of (last) Thursday," he said, referring to the board-mandated reduction in Seitz's salary.

He added, though, that the salary cut had led to "other ramifications," which he did not specify.

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