WESTFIELD — Certain staff positions and programming options could be on the line in Westfield if voters choose not to support an additional funding proposal that will appear on the ballot as part of the board of education’s Tuesday,April 16 election.

On Tuesday, during a regular meeting of the board, Superintendent Raymond González, Ed.D., explained that this year’s public vote will carry a different amount of weight than last year’s due to new state-level regulations related to the budget-approval process for districts like Westfield that hold their elections in the off season.

As was the case in the district for many years before the board voted to move its elections out of the November election cycle, the district’s base operating budget will once again be subjected to a state-mandated 2-percent tax-levy cap plus allowable adjustments related to enrollment and healthcare increases. That part of the budget, Dr. González explained, will be put to a vote by the sitting members of the board in late March. The district will still need to put an additional

funding proposal to the voters, however, if it hopes to avoid layoffs and maintain educational continuity.

“If that vote fails, we will have to make some difficult decisions as a district,” Dr. González said. “Right now, we don’t know which, if any, positions might be included in that additional request. A lot could change depending on our state-aid numbers, but we won’t have those until the end of February.”

The additional funding request (assuming that this year’s state-aid package is similar to last year’s) would represent an additional 2-percent taxlevy increase above the state cap. If approved, the ballot request also would allow the district to moderately enhance educational opportunities by adding new enrichment services and electives to its current list of offerings and by implementing certain programs and student support services that could help bring more special-education students back into the district.

Even if this year’s budget and its additional funding requests are approved, however, district officials say that more drastic measures will likely be needed to meet the changing needs of the community going forward.

According to a town-wide demographics study given by Richard Gripp, Ed.D., of Statistical Forecasting, LLC., at Tuesday night’s meeting, enrollment numbers (which saw a steep decline during the Covid-19 pandemic) are expected to climb “fairly substantially” in the coming years.

“This is one of the highest-rated school districts in the state, so we can expect a certain amount of natural growth as we continue to recover from the shutdown,” Mr. Gripp said, adding that recent trends like remote work opportunities have afforded parents more flexibility in terms of where to raise their children.

Still, Mr. Gripp continued, the community’s high property values and property taxes do present a “substantial” challenge to young parents looking to move into the area.

According to the demographic study, the median annual household income in Westfield is $185,000 (compared to the statewide average of $90,000) and the median value of an owner-occupied home is $810,000.

Within the next year, however, at least two major housing developments — the Parkside at Westfield (at the former Williams Nursery site) and the first phase of Westfield Crossing (on South Avenue) — are expected to come online, which will add approximately 318 new residential units to the town’s existing housing stock. As a result of these and other pending projects, Mr. Gripp predicted Tuesday that the district will likely see the student population increase by about 275 youngsters by the 2028-2029 school year.

The district, board member Brendan Galligan said Tuesday, is planning to put a bond referendum to the voting public as part of the 2025 election cycle in order to address capital-budget deficiencies and improve its facilities in preparation for the coming changes. The details of the referendum will be discussed at length both by the board and at public meetings over the course of the coming months.

For more information about the upcoming budget vote and school board election, visit: westfieldnjk12.org and click on “2024-2025 budget.”