Superintendent Thomas F. Butler presented a budget calendar for the next two months which anticipates a tentative budget adoption by mid-March and a public hearing sometime around April 1.

Like school leaders across the state, Hopewell Valley officials have been working on next year’s budget without the benefit of a schedule – let alone aid figures – from the state. In previous years, clear deadlines for budget submission were publicized by mid- January with state aid information following shortly thereafter. Gov. Corzine has pushed back his annual budget address until March 10, meaning aid figures are unavailable until then. The delay means local budgets cannot be finalized until sometime after, once budget managers factor in the funding and make the necessary adjustments to their spending plans.

In the meantime, local officials were recently directed to assume there will be no change in their funding level from last year.

Butler told the Board of Education at its meeting last night that he intends to present a tentative budget at its March 16 meeting. Prior to that, the Board will meet in two more public work sessions, on February 23 and March 9. The preliminary spending plan is due to the executive county superintendent by March 18.

Butler is proposing the Board schedule a public hearing on the plan for the week of March 30. The state requires adoption of a final budget no later than April 3.

The superintendent acknowledged that the quick turn-around time leaves little time to communicate the spending plan to the public, but that the district would be posting detailed information about next year’s budget to its website as soon as the details are finalized.

The budget election is scheduled for April 21.