Defeated Keyport school budget reduced by $90K Agreement cuts tax rate hike by about 3 cents BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer KEYPORT - Officials agreed to cut approximately $90,000 from the failed school budget last week. Voters rejected the proposed $17.09 million budget by a margin of 25 votes, or 255 to 230, on April 17. On May 21, the Borough Council approved a reduced budget that is "certainly something we can live with," according to School Superintendent C. Daniel Blachford. The Board of Education approved the changes to its budget at a meeting later in the week. Under the reduced budget, the tax rate will increase 6 cents per $100 assessed property value. The failed budget called for an increase of 9 cents, according to Councilman George Walling. On Tuesday, Blachford said the cuts are "really not a bad thing" because extra money was found in a miscellaneous account earmarked for special education tuition. The superintendent explained that special education is a kind of "wild card" when planning a yearly budget. Budgets must be prepared during January and February, he said. At that time, it is unknown if new special education students will be entering the district the following year. Extra funding is placed in the miscellaneous account, just in case, he explained. "It looks to me as though we can do the vast majority of what we planned," Blachford said, adding that the mayor and Borough Council members were all "extremely professional" in their dealings with the failed budget. One of the highlights of the 2007-08 budget is the purchase of a device called the Kurzweil 3000, a software system that converts electronic text to audio, allowing a child to listen to a book being read aloud. Blachford said the Kurzweil 3000 will be used to revise and update the K-5 language arts program. "We've had a number of changes in state standards," Blachford said. "The reading system we have now is two generations behind." The superintendent said the Kurzweil 3000 will be extremely impressive, enabling all of the reading books to be online for students to download. He noted if a child wished to read ahead, she could easily do so. "She can see all her stories for the whole year," he said. Blachford said the new device will be especially helpful for young students who are intelligent but struggle with reading. "This is going to give us a lot of power," Blachford said. The Kurzweil 3000 will come in handy for teachers, too, Blachford said, allowing instructors to include a more varied and interesting choice of literature for their students. The best part? "The cost came in a little low," Blachford said. "It's a $200,000 system. Central School Principal Anthony Rapolla got it for $90,000." In addition to the new reading program, there are several construction projects slated for the upcoming school year, including updates to two restrooms in the high school built in the early 1950s. Also, windows dating from the 1960s and 1970s will be replaced at both schools, according to Blachford.