Nutley Board of Education Addresses $7 Million Budget Shortfall

NUTLEY, NJ - During the April 17 Nutley Board of Education open public meeting, the school board addressed the financial and accounting issues facing the district.

With rumors regarding the financial situation circulating throughout town, and local social media groups throwing gasoline on the fire, the district presented the facts that led up to this juncture. As this was part of an ongoing investigation, there were, and remain, limits with regard to what details can be shared publicly. Additionally, solutions surrounding the issues are still being sought.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE TAPINTO.NET NEWSLETTER

In a nutshell, on Feb. 7, 2024 an audit of the finances covering June 30 2022 to June 30 2023 identified financial and accounting issues. The extent of the issues became known on March 7, 2024 and internally verified on March 13, 2023. The shortfall was projected at approximately 7 million dollars. The district made their first public statement acknowledging the situation on March 19.

Based on the facts presented at the Nutley Board of Education meeting, it appears that the two most recent school budget cycles did not fully incorporate rising costs due to increases in payroll, healthcare, special education, and transportation in the process. Additionally, misstated revenue expectations and unbudgeted expenses led to a shortfall of cash reserves.

With regard to the shortfall of cash reserves, the independent audit released on Feb. 7 shows a $7 million dollar shortfall. The statement presented to the public on April 17 reads, "During this time period, the district’s financial position had been consistently minimized by the Business Office."

At that time, the Nutley Public School district immediately notified the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), Executive County Superintendent and the Nutley Board of Commissioners. The district immediately started the process to obtain relief funding from the state for $7 million. The Assistant Superintendent of Business/Board Secretary was put on administrative leave. It was announced that interviews for an interim Business Administrator are taking place.

DOWNLOAD THE FREE TAPINTO APP FOR MORE LOCAL NEWS. AVAILABLE IN THE APPLE STORE AND THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE .

A new budget process began March 20 for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The final budget is due May 14, 2024.

While discussing the upcoming budget process, the district mentioned "the previous years’ budget design artificially inflated revenues." The official statement also reported that the district, "identified several areas where there is excess expenditures or underutilized staffing and inconsistent adoption of vendors and services."

The district does not expect significant changes to academic and extracurricular programs of our students, but did not shy away from stating that there may be minimal changes impacting the student programming for the 2024-2025 academic year. The Preschool program will not be impacted. The 2024-2025 Preschool Budget has been approved by NJDOE, and the district’s preschool will grow as expected for the 2024-2025 school year.

TAPinto Nutley will follow the process closely any report any cuts or reductions.

Related Articles :

March 19 Finances at Nutley Public Schools Under Scrutiny

March 20 Nutley Board of Commissioners Respond to Nutley Public Schools Financial and Accounting Issues

March 25 Nutley Schools Superintendent Bania Issues Statement Regarding Financial and Accounting Issues

March 25 Nutley Board of Education President Ferraro Issues Statement Regarding Financial and Accounting Issues

For more local news, visit TAPinto.net