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BYRAM - Lenape Valley Regional High School officials will go back to the drawing board after voters refused to pass a school budget for the 2006-2007 school year. Residents from the sending districts of Byram, Netcong, and Stanhope rejected the $8,346,550 tax levy by a 568-539 margin. The school board will now meet with representatives from each of the sending municipalities to hammer out a new budget before a May 19 deadline. The budget was one of six rejected by Sussex County voters. Meanwhile, voters in Byram approved a $8,291,386 tax levy for the district’s K-8 schools by a 352-345 margin. Byram school officials were able to keep costs down through the retirement of upwards of six teachers, moving special needs students in-house, and sharing costs with nearby districts, said schools superintendent Joseph Pezak. On the Lenape Valley school board, Sharon Still, an incumbent, defeated Fred Eckert for one of Netcong’s three-year seats. She had said that one of her priorities would be an approved school budget that would “meet the educational needs of our students.” This year, Lenape Valley school officials saw fixed costs in terms of salaries and benefits increase by $692,000, far more than the $284,000 school officials cut in expenditures. While schools across the state received another year of flat-aid from the state, Lenape Valley actually had its funding increase by 0.1 percent, from $3,781,830 in 2005-2006 to $3,799,251 this year. Robert Klinck, assistant superintendent for business, said the district has already slashed employee benefits by moving school aides from full-time to part-time status, bringing special education students back into the district through in-house disability and language instruction, and taking steps to cut transportation costs involved with students in athletics and co-curricular programs. Enrollment at Lenape Valley has increased by 150 students in the past five years, (see related story on page 6) while the percentage of funding from Trenton has remained basically level. Klinck said the district has adopted a “zero-based budget” philosophy, which often delays the purchases for items such as supplies or textbooks until they become absolutely critical.