UPDATED: School board OKs another 3.71% tax increase

The Board of Education voted earlier this month to increase the budget by $471,528, raising the local tax levy by another 3.71 percent.

Along with a tax hike in the 2024-25 budget approved earlier this spring, the local tax levy will climb 6.7 percent from a year earlier.

The cap on annual tax increases is usually 2 percent, but a new state law signed May 14 permits school districts affected by cuts in state aid in recent years to exceed the cap one time.

District officials said the additional funds will pay for programs and teaching positions.

The vote was unanimous, with Alexandria Cicchetti-Smith abstaining.

Julie Lucente, president of the board, did not reply to multiple requests for comment.

In April, voters rejected a ballot question seeking approval to raise $1.7 million as a permanent addition to the Byram Township School District budget. Of those casting ballots, about 60 percent voted no.

Interim superintendent

At its meeting July 17, the board approved the hiring of Joseph Kraemer to serve as interim superintendent.

Kraemer, who retired as superintendent of the Jefferson Township Public Schools in 2016, has served in an interim capacity in several school districts, including Jefferson, Hamburg and Sandyston-Walpack, in recent years.

The board will conduct a search for a permanent replacement for Superintendent John Fritzky, who is leaving for the same position in the Andover Regional School District.

Fritzky has held the top job in Byram since 2020. He previously was principal of the Byram Intermediate School for five years and vice principal for two years.

Before that, he was a fifth-grade elementary and special-education teacher in the Mount Olive School District for more than 10 years.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article did not include information on the earlier tax increase included in the 2024-25 budget approved this spring.