The Gloucester County School Board formally adopted a $52,154,292 fiscal year 2012 operating budget Tuesday with little discussion. The spending plan for operations as adopted is $66,017 less than the current operating budget and requires $40,567 less in local funds.

The overall FY2012 budget approved by the board totals $58,223,353, which includes $20,669,029 in local money for operating costs and $1 million for capital improvements.

Superintendent Ben Kiser had initially proposed an operating budget of $52,380,856, an increase of $160,547 over current funding. That plan, introduced on Feb. 11, would have cost $747,486 more in local funds than County Administrator Brenda Garton has since proposed for school operations.

The budget adopted by the board Tuesday calls for just $181,511 more in local funds than Garton’s plan. "That’s a reasonable place for us to be," Kiser said when revised budget figures were first introduced to the board during its March 2 work session.

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