Daily Record – January 3, 2024:
Mountain Lakes, Boonton Township in legal battle over high school tuition hike
Article originally publsihed January 3, 2024 from Daily Record
The Boonton Township Board of Education represented by Matthew Giacobbe is encouraging residents to attend Thursday night’s school board meeting in neighboring Mountain Lakes to voice objections to a proposed 7.25% tuition increase for township teens who attend Mountain Lakes High School.
Boonton board members described the increase as both “unlawful” and “unrealistic” in a December letter to residents. That followed the Mountain Lakes Board of Ed’s decision to initiate litigation against the Boonton Township board on Nov. 28. Mountain Lakes wants to raise the tuition rate by more than $1,300 per student above the current $17,987, the letter said.
“Mountain Lakes BOE’s proposed tuition increases are unsustainable for the 2023-2024 school year and every year thereafter as they all exceed the statutory annual 2% property tax restriction,” the letter reads. “In a word, Boonton Twp. BOE and its taxpayers will never be able to afford these proposed tuition increases and have no statutory mechanism to do so.”
The two communities have shared a high school for more than three decades. Boonton Township currently sends 192 students to Mountain Lakes High, about a third of the school’s total enrollment of 565.
Mountain Lakes Superintendent Michael Featherman declined to comment when reached on Tuesday.
Boonton counter-proposal
According to the Boonton board, Mountain Lakes rejected a counter-proposal to increase the 2023-2024 tuition by 3%, to $18,521 per student. That would have raised annual payments to the district from Boonton Township by almost $103,000, to a total of nearly $3.6 million.
Boonton Township says the districts have entered into a series of long-term tuition agreements over the decades and have historically agreed to increase the annual tuition by 2%, an increase that matches the state’s 2% annual cap on tax increases.
“Mountain Lakes BOE summarily rejected this counter-proposal and remains steadfast in its unrealistic quest for a 7.25% tuition rate increase for the 2023-2024 school year and a 2.5% increase or the Consumer Price Index (‘CPI’) rate (whichever is greater) for each subsequent school year,” the township school board said in its letter.
The proposed hike “far exceeds the amount of money that the Boonton Twp. BOE can legally raise from its taxpayers,” the letter added.
Meeting scheduled for Thursday
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the High School on Powerville Road. Meeting videos are archived through the Mountain Lakes district website.
“Mountain Lakes BOE has yet to articulate the real reason for its need to seek such an unrealistic increase,” the Boonton Township board wrote. “Boonton Twp. BOE will be forced to explore all options and alternatives in the best interest of both our students and taxpayers.
Superintendent search, bond referendum on tap
The tuition controversy comes as the Mountain Lakes district embarks on a search to replace Superintendent Featherman, who is retiring at the end of the school year. Boonton Township, meanwhile, is already asking voters to consider up to $15.1 million in additional spending to renovate the lone school in town, the K-8 Rockaway Valley School. The proposal − including new lighting and HVAC equipment, asbestos removal, a roof replacement and upgrades to the art room and nurse’s office − will go before voters in a March 12 referendum. More information is available on the district website.
William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com
Twitter: @wwesthoven