EMPORIUM — Members of the Cameron County School Board adopted a preliminary general fund budget for the 2016-17 school year during Thursday night’s meeting.
The preliminary budget lists expenditures in the amount of $12,601,089. Board secretary Carl Mitchell said there is currently a projected $500,000 shortfall, but employees are looking into ways to cut additional expenditures.
This year’s revenue estimates are again being taken from Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposals, but they are more conservative than last year, Mitchell said.
In addition, $400,000 was estimated for cyber school expenses, showing a great increase from last year that is slightly misleading. Wolf’s proposal for last year’s budget saw the state picking up more of the cyber school tab than it actually did, making this year’s estimate look like a large jump over last year.
The budget will be available for public review beginning today by contacting the administrative offices at the high school.
The board approved the Seneca Highlands Career and Technology Center operating budget for next school year, with total expenditures totaling $2,043,842. The school district’s share of those expenses will be $108,855.
Approval was also given on the Contract for Cooperative Special Education Services with Seneca Highlands IU9 in the amount of $1,091,700. The final amount payable will be determined by reconciling the above estimate with the amounts of service actually provided at the end of the school year.
A bond resolution presented by Audrey Bear of R.W. Baird & Co., of the Harrisburg area, was approved. The resolution will refinance current bonds in order for the district to get a better interest rate, thus saving money. Two current bond issues will be rolled into one for the transaction, which will not be completed unless a minimum 3 percent savings threshold is met.
If the arrangement is accepted by the state Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), Baird & Co. will work with the school district solicitor to move ahead with refinancing. There will be very little change on principal payments and the dates of the payments will not change, but the lower interest rate will net about $242,000 in savings over the next 11 years.
Mitchell said the district has received all expected payments from the state for the current school year. However, state funding for building construction reimbursement has not been received, with the school district being owed approximately $350,000. Issues surrounding those Plan Con funds will not be settled until the next fiscal year, Mitchell said, and the district expects to receive no funding for that purpose until at least the end of this fiscal year, if the state Legislature and governor can even come to an agreement on it at that point.
In other news, a bid was accepted from St. Marys Paving to resurface lots at the high and elementary schools at a cost of $339,933. The St. Marys bid was the only one received, causing several board members to question whether a lower estimate could have been entered.
The move was approved as work must begin when the school year ends so that it can be completed prior to classes resuming this fall. The bulk of the lot was last repaved in 1992, while the back lot at Woodland was added in 1995 and has had nothing but patch work completed on it since.
At least five other paving companies were contacted by the district and asked for a bid, but chose not to enter one.
In addition to resurfacing, which will place more than three inches of new material on the lot, two islands will be removed and surfaced, as well. One is located at the high school where the chimney used to stand, and the other is at Woodland and has no curbing.
Meanwhile, a presentation was given by elementary school librarian Kristen Burfield concerning the highly-successful Reading Fair held earlier this spring. This year was the second such event, and 49 students participated, up from 32 in the event’s inaugural year.
Kindergarten through fifth grade students were encouraged to read a fictional book at their reading level and then create a display based on elements from the story. Their projects were judged by a number of retired teachers, and awards were presented to first, second and third place winners. Sixth through eighth graders also participated.
Burfield also presented a video compiled by IU9 technology staff that featured a number of the students talking about why they wanted to be in the competition and the reasons for choosing that book.
“We plan to do it again next year and we hope it continues to grow every year,” said Burfield. “Some families had multiple projects and it was fun to see what they came up with together.”
A parent of a student at the high school attended the meeting to discuss her concerns over the honor society programs. At the recent induction ceremony, no new Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society) members were inducted, though those who joined last year were recognized, and German Honor Society did not recognize any students.
The parent said she was concerned about all of the work done by many students to join these societies, and that now those opportunities were gone to them. She went on to state that her student was enrolled in German 5 this year, but had to independently study during the same period that German 3 students were working with the teacher.
The parent also raised concerns over a lack of textbooks at the high school, stating that her daughter had only one class where she had an actual textbook. In the others, students learned from worksheets or by looking up information on the Internet. The parent is concerned because not all students have the Internet available at their homes.
The board did not address any of the parent’s concerns at the meeting, moving onto agenda items as soon as she had finished speaking.
A resolution supporting judicial review of the William Penn School District, et. al. lawsuit regarding adequate school funding was accepted. The lawsuit was brought in protest to a funding formula for distribution of state aid to school districts.
The school board has scheduled a meeting for 6 p.m. May 19 to further discuss the proposed budget. No action is scheduled to be taken at this time, but the meeting will be advertised locally.
