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Bellmawr BOE Approves $513,967 Appropriation of Additional State Aid

The Bellmawr Board of Education (BOE) held a special meeting on July 25, 2018 to appprove $513,967 appropriation of additional State Aid.

The Bellmawr Board of Education (BOE) held a special meeting on July 25, 2018 to approve $513,967 in appropriations of additional State Aid.

SJO requested additional information from Business Administrator, Patrick Doyle, regarding the appropriations and he provided further details:


  1.  $50,000 Elementary Spanish teacher (Currently, there is only one at the Middle School level)
  2.  $55,763 School Social Worker
  3.  $85,680 Contracted service for Guidance Counselor
  4.  $40,000 Benefit Cost for 1 and 2
  5.  $10,000 Writing Coach Services
  6.  $10,000 Basic Skills Curriculum and Supplies
  7.  $60,000 Teacher Leadership Workshops/Trainings
  8.  $202,524 Construction for Burke Elementary Renovations – to be determined

Total: $513,967

SJO also asked Mr. Doyle for clarification about insurance for the July 3 fire at E.M. Burke School and also regarding the $794,000 figure that was discussed at Bellmawr Council’s July 26, 2018 meeting.

Mr. Doyle wrote: “To clarify, the $700K+ figure that has been circulated is the total state aid increase over last year. Almost $300K was known at budget time and was therefore already included in the budget back in the spring. The actual increase we were just given was $513,000 as you can tell from the resolution.”

(Screenshot of Bellmawr BOE’s July 25, 2018 meeting agenda)

Regarding the fire, Mr. Doyle wrote: “We are still awaiting information from both the insurance company about the approve cost of restoration for Burke, as well as from our architects about their recommended renovation plans. That uncertainty is one of the main reasons we chose to reserve much of the additional aid for those planned renovations because we just aren’t sure how things will shake out.”

“Right now, it is likely that the old building at Burke will not open for the first day of school, though the newer wing from the main office to the gym will open as normal. We are currently drafting a plan for those students and staff members who may be displaced and will roll that out to the community as soon as we have been able to finalize those details.”

To view the BOE meeting agenda, click here.