BAYONNE --Two-thirds of the nearly 300 teachers and other school district employees laid off last month will be rehired under a Board of Education budget expected to be passed tonight.

The 2017-18 spending plan was approved by State Department of Education last week and calls for a tax increase of nearly 6 percent, ed board accountant Matt Bouldin said.

The original spending plan's elimination of 261 non-tenured teachers and 15 others caused widespread outrage and a student walkout at Bayonne High School.

Once the budget is approved tonight, the district can start the process of re-hiring a significant number of the 277 employees who were notified that their jobs were being eliminated, school board vice president Denis Wilbeck told The Jersey Journal.

"It will be a slow process, but it will be the beginning of recalling teachers, personnel, bus drivers, engineers, etc. -- and bringing them back in place so we can get the summer programs up and running," he said.

Wilbeck said that re-hiring two-thirds of the original layoffs will take some time, but the district should expect to have between 80 to 95 teachers and other employees re-hired by the end of July.

The budget would also eliminate the structural deficit for the current school year and significantly improve the deficit for next year, Wilbeck said.

"(Passing this budget)

sends a strong signal to the community that we have a process (to fix next year's deficit), and that it is functioning and working well," Wilbeck said.

"I think we are going in the right direction."

The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. tonight and will be held in the auditorium of Bayonne High School.