Wayne officials work to maintain school police presence amid budget shortfall
Among those options are layoffs, attrition and a proposal to replace Wayne Police Department school resource officers with retired law enforcement.
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Wayne is one of several school districts across New Jersey facing a significant budget gap. As district and township officials work to balance the budget, they are ensuring that school safety is not compromised.
“A $7.1 million gap," confirmed Superintendent Dr. Mark Toback. "And yes, there are a number of reductions that were made in a very strategic way."
Among those options are layoffs, attrition and a proposal to replace Wayne Police Department school resource officers with retired law enforcement. The Board of Education has said repeatedly that this would not reduce security. Parents pushed to keep active officers in their children's schools at a recent board meeting.
Both the school board and the township are working to keep SRO presence in the district. The latest proposal from the town would keep an SRO in both of Wayne’s high schools on the town’s dime, and replace middle school SROs with sworn law enforcement officers. Negotiations for this are continuing.
“We would not compromise on the safety of our children,” said Wayne School Board Member Haralampos Prassakos.
In the past week, News 12 has reported on similar situations in Middletown, where the township also proposed sharing the cost of police in schools, and in Passaic, where 51 jobs will be cut.
There have also been ongoing budget shortfalls in Toms River, Jackson and East Orange.
Each scenario is unique - and complex - but the bottom line remains the same: there’s a gap between rising costs, capped tax increases and changing levels of state aid, and there’s only so many ways to balance things out.
“These are the solutions that are available to us, because there aren't a lot of solutions,” said Wayne School Board Member Mark Faber. “We don't have a lot of levers to pull here when we have to cut money.”
