Octorara trims budget, cuts some athletic programs

Acting on the recommendation of their superintendent, Octorara Area School Board members April 19 trimmed $1.2 million from their proposed 2010-11 budget, cutting the $105,000 middle school athletic program, $80,000 in technology, two bus runs costing $100,000, and about $700,000 in salaries and benefits through attrition.

School board president Lisa Bowman said she was “in despair” about the cuts, made just one week after board members learned in a work session the district was granted an exception to raise taxes higher than the Act 1 index of 3.17 percent. This means the district may approve a hefty tax increase without going to voter referendum.

According to business manager Dan Carsley, Octorara was granted an exception based on about $1.3 million in higher-than anticipated expenses: $295,000 in retirement benefits, $387,677 in health care expenses, $358,456 in higher special education costs, and $292,742 in construction debt service.

Carsley also suggested the district could use about $1.1 million in its fund balance to offset a tax increase. School board members Monday said they would prefer to make the suggested cuts and dip into reserves rather than to also eliminate the $365,000 high school athletic program, about $50,000 in supplemental contracts for staff leading extracurricular activities, and $607,000 for students to attend the Technical College High School.

Board members said they would likely approve cutting about $1.2 million from the $47,609,008 budget in May, and give the budget final approval by June 30. According to Newcome, Lancaster County homeowners will see a .71 mill increase to 28.39 mills (up 2.57 percent) and there will be a 3.18 mill increase to 35.41 mills (up 9.87 percent) for Chester County residents.

Many property owners in Lancaster County will face tax bills of around $4,313, and most Chester County homeowners will pay around $5,378, according to Carsley. However, these bills will be offset by gambling revenue. Taxpayers last year received $284 gambling checks, according to Carsley.

Newcome explained the school district, which has been working with state Rep. Bryan Cutler and state Rep. Tom Houghton to attract more business revenue to the district, is in a difficult financial situation because of rising costs such as a 72 percent increase in PSERs contributions, and a recession. The budget originally called for a 9.7 percent increase in Lancaster County and a 17.5 percent increase in Chester County.

However, both administrators and school board members said the budget was not realistic, and menus of potential cuts have been proposed by both staff and board members.

“Our funding and our millage rate are way out of line,” said board member Bob Hume.

Carsley said the recession has lowered the school district’s tax base.

“Property values have declined and there have been many, many reassessments throughout the district,” said Carsley.

Newcome also suggested the school board could cut $75,000 by eliminating mid-day transportation for kindergarten students. However, board members expressed concern that families would instead opt into charter schools, many of which offer all-day kindergarten, thus costing the school district more in both tuition payments and transportation.

“It’s almost like we take two steps forward and three steps back,” Bowman said. “We need to broaden our tax base. We don’t have enough ratables in this area. I don’t think state aid is going to be forthcoming. We have to do some things ourselves.”

High school principal Scott Rohrer said staff is looking at the possibility of providing technical college education to high school students right on campus in the future to save money.

The school board also read a letter from a parent asking for increased drug and alcohol education, and heard parent Scott Grimes of Parkesburg ask for statistics on drug and alcohol use in district schools. Newcome said figures will be provided at a future meeting, and that prevention education is ongoing.

In personnel matters the school board accepted with regret Linda Persing’s retirement resignation as human resource coordinator, awarded a $78,400 contract to Altchem Environmental Services for exterior asbestos abatement at the high school, and approved the CCIU core services budget of $17,192,748 and the CCIU occupational education budget of $22,239,178.
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Staff proposes cost-saving steps

Octorara Area School District employees have suggested 50 cost-saving measures which could help the school district close a $3.4 million shortfall in its proposed $47,609,008 million 2010-11 budget.

The suggestions aren’t quite (with thanks to singer Paul Simon) 50 ways to leave your lover, and many of them would not likely be adopted without controversy, but each “way” is a plan which could save as little as $200 or as much as $1 million per annum.

“We’re taking a stab at some numbers,” said Superintendent Tom Newcome, who asked school board members on March 15 to weigh in on the list before the school board’s April 12 meeting.

“Some of these deserve some close consideration,” said board member Sam Ganow. “If we’re $3 million off we’ve got a long way to go.”

The names of the working “Stans” who are trying to make some new plans for the cash-strapped district are being kept anonymous. They have suggested: eliminating two assistant principals to save $137,400 per salary; cutting a guidance counselor to save $96,656; providing career and technical education in-house to save $1,036,397; eliminating one sub per day per school to save $106,605; and shutting down buildings to all outside use after 6 p.m. to save $16,275.

The district could move to a four-day week, extending the 180-day school year into the summer, which would save $65,100 in heating and cooling, $606,237 in transportation, and $324,679 in custodial costs.

Board members could also: save $40,491 by offering no raises to non-contractual employees; cut the $356,600 athletic budget; and eliminate the summer reading program and kindergarten outreach to save $40,000.

According to Newcome the district could save $67,000 each by taking these measures: offer no high school class with less than 15 students, make sure each high school teacher has responsibility for six classes, and eliminating or reducing the number of study halls.

Although both board members and administrators have said it will be trimmed, the preliminary budget is up by $3,587,000, or 8.15 percent, from last year. The school district has applied to the state for an exception, allowing it to raise taxes by more than the 3.7 percent allowed under Act 1, due to sharp increases in pension and health care costs.

Preliminary figures mean real estate taxes would rise 2.69 mills, or 9.7 percent, for Lancaster County residents, from 27.68 mills to 30.37 mills. Taxes would rise 5.65 mills, or 17.5 percent, for Chester County residents, from 32.23 mills to 37.88 mills.

During the March 15 meeting the school board also approved an agreement to pay $10,000 to settle claims in a U.S. District Court case involving a minor special education student. Newcome said while there was no admission of guilt by either party involved in the suit, the written agreement and financial settlement were recommended by legal counsel for the school district.

The school board also heard from Scott Grimes, volunteer director of the district’s Lacrosse program. Grimes said the program is supporting 41boys and 14 girls on a budget of $9,000 which students and boosters raised themselves.

The school board held executive sessions for personnel and legal issues. The next meeting is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 12 in the intermediate school multi-purpose room.