APP:

An influential council of Orthodox Jewish leaders has endorsed the public school budget, giving the district a good chance of passing its second spending plan in as many years.The Vaad has decided to ask the Orthodox community to vote for the $108 million because it is a fair plan, said Rabbi Moshe Zev Weisberg, a Vaad member.The endorsement is important because a school budget has not passed without the council’s backing in at least four years.”We think it’s a responsible budget that balances fiscal responsibility,” Weisberg said today. “More importantly it offers a quality education to Lakewood’s children.”The total budget is $108,050,880, up $4,823,415 from the last budget, or 4.7 percent The proposed tax levy is $62,654,745, up $6,103,163, or nearly 11 percent.State aid remains flat.District officials say the tax rate will increase an estimated 7.1 cents, but they emphasize that is an estimate — and they can’t say what that means to the average homeowner — because the township underwent a tax revaluation last year and new tax rates have not been set.Weisberg said the Vaad also has endorsed the three Board of Education candidates running unopposed: incumbents Meir Grunhut and Irene Miccio and newcomer Ada I. Gonzalez.