Which came first? The chicken? Or the Egg?

My thoughts on the Projected School Board Budget

Mark Robinson

So where are we right now?

So the school board accepted the Superintendants recommendation to furlough 23 teachers, 10 Teacher Assistants and accepted the resignation of 2 more Teacher Assistants. We have been told it is because of substantial decline in enrollment. These cuts will increase class sizes and reduce the impact that Teachers Assistants will have in helping the teachers with the larger class sizes. I have spent some time looking into the school board budget and come up with this....

Projected Revenue/Expenses/Additional Debt

25,000,000

IF THE SCHOOL BOARD DOES NOTHING.

Rise in expenses based on PSERS website indicating a projected increase in benefit costs of 37% in 2013-14, and 26% in 201415. Decline in projected revenue coming from erosion in the cash surplus which will be eaten up due to expenses surpassing revenue. Additional Debt is the total additional debt that the school board will take on in order support the current staffing levels. Cash Surplus is gone.
20,000,000

15,000,000

Total Expenditures Total Income Total Additional Debt

10,000,000

Cash Surplus

5,000,000

0 2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015

The school will take on additional debt of $4.3 MILLION. At this debt level the viability of even having a school district is gone and it starts to cut whole programs. Arts, Sports, Etc. That debt is 25% of the total budget which means that the whole budget will be swallowed in debt within 4 years.

How can we sustain the current staffing?

Based on the projected numbers the taxes would have to increase by 40% over the next two years.

If your house is worth $100,000 then you currently pay about $2860 in school tax. If taxes increase by 40% you would have to pay $4004.

After reading the rules regarding furlough of teachers, Pennsylvania State Education Law indicates that schools cannot furlough due to budget emergencies. Because of the wide spread budget issues occurring, the state is considering a change to the law to allow for financial planning. There are currently only two ways to furlough teachers:

1. Substantial decline in student enrollment 2. Reorganization of the curriculum (this means that whole programs would need cut) For example, take away all arts programs. (Art classes, Chorus, Drama, Music, etc)

So what does that mean to us?

Even with the furloughs, we can probably expect a 15% increase in school taxes in order to balance the budget. If we dont raise taxes, we would have to cut $4,000,000 out of the budget from somewhere elsethe problem is that outside of salaries and benefits there is only $4,900,000 left to pick from and some of that is protected by state law so it cant be cut.

Those type of expenses are:

Tuition to charter school, vocational school (Beattie, Wood Shop, Family Consumer Science) or approved private school - $1,500,000

This leaves $3,500,000. We would have to cut EVERYTHING elseand still find another $500,000.

Student Transportation, Administrative Functions, central office, Student Health, Community Services, Construction and Maintenance of the schools.

Two sides to the story.The chicken or the egg? Our towns have been experiencing population decline for the last 10 years which is why we have declining school enrollment. If we keep all the teachers, then we have to raise taxes substantially in order to keep the district financially viable. If we raise taxes the area becomes less desirable and would continue to experience population decline resulting in less tax revenue to our schools hampering their ability to provide top notch education. BUT. If we cut teachers that also makes our school district less desirable and that would also be a factor in population decline, lower enrollment, and less tax revenue to keep our school district going. So how do you deal with opposite actions that both result in the same negative thing?!?

The two options right now

Im not going to lie or make anything upthere arent any good answers here. In order to keep our district viable into the future, we have to make cuts. I dont like it anymore than you do but after educating myself on the numbers I dont see what more we can do 1. We take these cuts as they are. Spread out across the entire curriculum in order to avoid losing course options for our kids or... 2. We start removing full programs from our offering of educational opportunities. The Arts, Sports, AP classes, etc. and the teaching staff that supports those programs.

So what will it take for this to work?

As a population of parents with kids in school, we have to be supportive of the decision as it is still a very difficult one to make. We must increase our support of the PTO, Boosters Organizations, and other groups that work with the schools. We have to become Public Relations Experts for our school board! We need to brand our school board and sell it as something special! We have to accept small stepped tax increases over the next 3-4 years in order to keep up with Cost of Living, Pension/Benefits, and declining state funding. Keep in mind that these tax increases directly impact some of the seniors in our community who live on a fixed income and are barely making ends meet. They are part of our community too!

The last and possibly most important point

WE MUST TAKE THIS ENERGY THAT WE HAVE AND INVEST IT IN BUILDING UP OUR COMMUNITY!!! Look at some of the towns/school districts that people are always talking aboutMt Lebanon, Pine Richland, Sewickley, Beaver, and Lawrenceville, who are experiencing growth.THEY ALL HAVE VERY STRONG COMMUNITY BASED ORGANIZATIONS!! We have them too! Enjoy Bellevue, BIGr, Avalon Now, Liberty in Bellevue (LiB) and Allegheny Together(this one is sponsored by the Bellevue Borough Council), need people to help plan community events, provide ideas, and guidance to support town initiatives and work with our Bellevue and Avalon town councils and Northgate School Board. In the next 3 months I urge you to research what these groups are and do for the community!

Community Volunteerism

If you are worried about not having time to dedicate to volunteering Ill point out one critical thing THE MORE PEOPLE THAT JUMP IN TO HELP, THE LESS EACH INDIVIDUAL HAS TO DO. I know you are all busy, I know there are work and school responsibilities, and other activities. Dont give those up, convince your friends and neighbors to pitch in with you so that it doesnt overwhelm you. I challenge you to look into these community organizations, find something that you like and offer a helping hand. You will meet tons of new and fantastic people! BECOME PART OF THE SOLUTION!