05.17
Chichester School Board approves proposed budget – Delaware County Daily Times
UPPER CHICHESTER — Before an audience of more than 200 teachers, students and residents, Chichester School Board members Monday night approved a proposed final budget that will set the district’s tax increase at 4.5 percent, down from an originally-estimated 6.1 percent, and close a $ 1.7 million deficit.
“At this point, it’s not a surprise and it’s not unknown what budget constraints we are under,” board president Howard Adams said. “Nothing in this budget was taken lightly. This was the hardest thing we’ve done.”
The board voted 7-0 in support of the proposed final budget, which sets revenues at $ 61,444,269 and puts the millage rate for residents at 37.917 mills, up 1.633 mills from the 2010-11 school year. The increase will translate to an average of $ 119 more per resident next year.
Board members are slated to vote on a final budget during a special meeting June 27.
The meeting saw a surprisingly heavy turnout, attributable to both the passage of the proposed final budget and a dispute between the school board and the Chichester Education Association, which represents 306 district teachers. Monday, the CEA ran an advertisement in the Daily Times accusing the school board of misrepresenting the status of contract negotiations between the two groups after they failed to come to an agreement on a proposed pay freeze for teachers for the 2011-12 school year and a one-year contract extension.
About 150 people packed the board’s conference room, while several dozen more milled about outside. After about 45 minutes, the meeting was moved to Hilltop Elementary School’s auditorium, where it continued on past 10:30 p.m.
Many of the CEA members in attendance wore royal blue shirts in a show of solidarity, and at least two students sported handmade t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “We Love Our Teachers.”
Several of those in attendance questioned why the board turned down a proposal first made by the CEA to freeze teacher pay for the next school year — saving the district about $ 866,000 — and extend the contract through 2013.
“If I’m in debt for $ 200,000, and my mother offers me $ 100,000, I’m not going to turn that down,” one teacher said. “So how come, when the teachers came to you and offered to save you half of the (deficit), you rejected them?”
Adams said that while the proposal made sense for the 2011-12 school year, it would have caused problems in the following years. Continued…
“Our concern is that next year is going to be twice as bad to our staff and our programs,” he said, noting that the district’s payments into a state retirement fund are forecast to go up significantly, while the Act 1 index that allows it to set its tax rate is set to decline.
The budget approved Monday night will result in the elimination of about 18 staff positions, including one administrative position that was vacated earlier in the year and will remain unfilled, as well as eight teaching positions. Freshman sports programs and summer workshop hours will also be eliminated.
Robert Sparklin, a ninth-grader at Chichester High School, worried that teaching cuts would result in hardships for students.
“If we’ve got 35 people in a class, we’re not going to get the individual attention we need,” he said.
Sparklin’s father, also named Robert Sparklin, said that by cutting teachers, the district was “raising taxes for a lesser education.”
“Fear of what is to come in the future should not paralyze us today,” he said.
Resident Georgiana Thompson said that senior citizens would bear the most in terms of hardships.
“I can’t afford these tax increases,” she said. “These kids want to play sports? Let the parents pay for them. They’re going to lose an art class? Big deal. We didn’t have half of what these kids had when we went to school. What are you going to do for seniors and the people who are losing their homes?”
Board member William Taylor said the board tried to take every factor into account while crafting the budget.
“If you look at our responsibilities as school board members, the first is to provide an education to all students, and the second is to do it in a fiscally responsible way,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’d prefer to add teachers, not take them away, but we cannot do that in a fiscally responsible way. We need to talk to our legislators.” Continued…
UPPER CHICHESTER — Before an audience of more than 200 teachers, students and residents, Chichester School Board members Monday night approved a proposed final budget that will set the district’s tax increase at 4.5 percent, down from an originally-estimated 6.1 percent, and close a $ 1.7 million deficit.
“At this point, it’s not a surprise and it’s not unknown what budget constraints we are under,” board president Howard Adams said. “Nothing in this budget was taken lightly. This was the hardest thing we’ve done.”
The board voted 7-0 in support of the proposed final budget, which sets revenues at $ 61,444,269 and puts the millage rate for residents at 37.917 mills, up 1.633 mills from the 2010-11 school year. The increase will translate to an average of $ 119 more per resident next year.
Board members are slated to vote on a final budget during a special meeting June 27.
The meeting saw a surprisingly heavy turnout, attributable to both the passage of the proposed final budget and a dispute between the school board and the Chichester Education Association, which represents 306 district teachers. Monday, the CEA ran an advertisement in the Daily Times accusing the school board of misrepresenting the status of contract negotiations between the two groups after they failed to come to an agreement on a proposed pay freeze for teachers for the 2011-12 school year and a one-year contract extension.
About 150 people packed the board’s conference room, while several dozen more milled about outside. After about 45 minutes, the meeting was moved to Hilltop Elementary School’s auditorium, where it continued on past 10:30 p.m.
Many of the CEA members in attendance wore royal blue shirts in a show of solidarity, and at least two students sported handmade t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “We Love Our Teachers.”
Several of those in attendance questioned why the board turned down a proposal first made by the CEA to freeze teacher pay for the next school year — saving the district about $ 866,000 — and extend the contract through 2013.
“If I’m in debt for $ 200,000, and my mother offers me $ 100,000, I’m not going to turn that down,” one teacher said. “So how come, when the teachers came to you and offered to save you half of the (deficit), you rejected them?”
Adams said that while the proposal made sense for the 2011-12 school year, it would have caused problems in the following years.
“Our concern is that next year is going to be twice as bad to our staff and our programs,” he said, noting that the district’s payments into a state retirement fund are forecast to go up significantly, while the Act 1 index that allows it to set its tax rate is set to decline.
The budget approved Monday night will result in the elimination of about 18 staff positions, including one administrative position that was vacated earlier in the year and will remain unfilled, as well as eight teaching positions. Freshman sports programs and summer workshop hours will also be eliminated.
Robert Sparklin, a ninth-grader at Chichester High School, worried that teaching cuts would result in hardships for students.
“If we’ve got 35 people in a class, we’re not going to get the individual attention we need,” he said.
Sparklin’s father, also named Robert Sparklin, said that by cutting teachers, the district was “raising taxes for a lesser education.”
“Fear of what is to come in the future should not paralyze us today,” he said.
Resident Georgiana Thompson said that senior citizens would bear the most in terms of hardships.
“I can’t afford these tax increases,” she said. “These kids want to play sports? Let the parents pay for them. They’re going to lose an art class? Big deal. We didn’t have half of what these kids had when we went to school. What are you going to do for seniors and the people who are losing their homes?”
Board member William Taylor said the board tried to take every factor into account while crafting the budget.
“If you look at our responsibilities as school board members, the first is to provide an education to all students, and the second is to do it in a fiscally responsible way,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here. We’d prefer to add teachers, not take them away, but we cannot do that in a fiscally responsible way. We need to talk to our legislators.”
The district could have raised taxes 6.1 percent, but backed down from that number after receiving approval from the Pennsylvania Department of Education for $ 2.4 million in exception funds. The district will use about $ 1.1 million of those funds to hold taxes at 4.5 percent.
Board members had already voted to enact pay freezes for the 2011-12 school year on several non-bargaining unit employee groups, including the district’s administrative cabinet, which includes the superintendent, assistant superintendent and business director; its Act 93 administrators; its administrative support group; and its confidential secretaries. Those freezes are expected to save the district about $ 80,000, business director Janice Miller Lion said, adding that twelve additional teacher retirements will save the district an additional $ 300,000.
CHI BUDGET AT A GLANCE:
Proposed Budget: $ 61,444,269
Proposed Tax Hike: 4.5 percent
Current Millage: 36.284
Proposed Millage: 37.917
Current Average Tax: $ 2,642
Proposed Average Tax: $ 2,761
Proposed Average Tax Increase: $ 119