Gloucester Superintendent of Schools Walter Clemons introduced his recommended fiscal year 2022 budget request to the Gloucester County School Board Tuesday evening at Page Middle School.

The meeting was originally scheduled to be held last Thursday at the T.C. Walker Education Center, the board’s usual meeting location, but the location was changed due to mechanical issues with the HVAC system last week at the education center.

The budget introduced by Clemons is based on an average daily membership of 4,850 students during the next school year. Clemons said he was recommending an operating budget of $66,118,750, up about $5 million over the current operating budget of $60,992,961. The operating budget would require an increase of $3,120,762 in local dollars.

Clemons’s proposal would provide a pay scale and step increase for all employees, which would equal to an average pay hike of 4.5 percent. The cost for the pay raises is $1,998,990. He also said he does not anticipate a...