The Gloucester County School Board and Board of Supervisors held a joint meeting Tuesday night in the T.C. Walker Education Center auditorium to discuss the school board’s budget of more than $87 million, which the school board adopted at last Thursday’s budget work session.

The school division’s budget includes a local contribution increase of $1.5 million. The county’s current draft budget is set to provide level funding for the schools, which is a $30.4 million contribution.

Dr. Anthony Vladu, superintendent of schools, presented the district’s budget with priorities focusing on competitive compensation, safety, instruction, communication (which ties in with safety), transportation, maintenance and capital improvements.

As part of its adopted budget, the division is set to provide a scale and step salary increase of 3 percent to all division employees at $1.65 million. Health insurance costs are estimated to increase by 21 percent, of which employees will incur some of the...