Lakewood, NJ – The Township Committee is scheduled to meet tonight to vote on changes to the failed Board of Education budget, but the liaison overseeing reductions to the spending plan said he feels cuts in education are a bad idea.
Committeeman Albert Akerman said he is taking suggestions about how to handle the budget, which was defeated by township voters April 27. He said he will continue to consider suggestions until Thursday’s meeting. People can make suggestions to his email address at [email protected], he said.
“I am uncomfortable making cuts in education,” Akerman said. “I am not going to say cut teachers. I am not an educator, either. I don’t think it is my job to say that.”
After looking over the budget, Akerman said he “may have found a few areas” that could be trimmed.
People have suggested that he cut teachers and textbooks, he said.
“There is a major war going on over textbooks,” said Carol Cousins, president of the Lakewood Education Association. There are some students in the public district who don’t have books at all, she said.
The Board of Education will meet Thursday, too. It will make official a list of teachers and para-professionals who will not be rehired. Cousins said about 30 to 35 staff members were notified Friday that they will not continue to work for the district. The board must vote on the notices by May 15. A majority of the people notified were non-tenured teachers, she said. The remaining people were para-professionals.
Reasons for not rehiring staff can vary, Cousins said.
{Asbury Park Press/Matzav.com Newscenter}
