Council Rock Approves $198.66M Preliminary Budget

The Council Rock School Board on Thursday approved a $198.66 million preliminary budget for the 2011-2012 school year. The budget is available for public review and can still be amended prior to a final budget vote, which will take place at the board’s June 9 meeting.

If the final budget mirrors the preliminary budget, residents can expect a 1.4 percent property tax increase, or $58.52 for the owner of the average assessed home of $38,000. Under the preliminary budget, every $10,000 of assessed value represents a $15.40 tax increase.

The approval was not unanimous. Board member Paul Anagnostakos voted no, saying he was seeking a budget that kept taxes flat.

However, other members, including Wendi Thomas, said she didn’t view the approval of a preliminary budget as an endorsement for a 1.4 percent tax increase. Rather, she said, it’s simply approving the administration’s work to this point to make the figures work.

Thomas said she looks forward to further consideration by the administration as to what other items can be cut from the budget to get it closer to a zero percent increase. “I need to see what the difference is between where we are today and what zero looks like,” she said.

Superintendent Mark Klein said he and his staff plan to work over the next week to assess additional cuts to the budget and will report back to the board in a presentation at next week’s meeting, May 5.

More than $9 million in spending cuts are already proposed for 2011-2012, including the reduction of four administrator positions, 42 teaching positions, and 19 support positions. The Council Rock Education Association and the Council Rock Administrators Association have agreed to $1.1 million in salary changes.

Under the proposed budget, $9.1 million has been cut from expenses and $1.1 million reduced through salary concessions. A $4 million infusion from the fund balance has been applied make up the rest.

The cuts range from staffing reductions to the elimination of freshman sports teams.

The proposed budget reduces 15 elementary classroom and support teaching positions. Klein said the district would have reduced some of those positions due to enrollment declines regardless of the financial pinch.

Other staff reductions include 15 secondary teachers, two gifted support teachers, and 10 special services professionals.

More than a half a million dollars has been cut through the reduction of four administrator positions.

The district will cut $350,000 from co-curricular activities, like sports, arts, music, etc. The entire ninth-grade sports program will be eliminated for a savings of $105,000, an issue that concerned several parents who spoke publicly at the board meeting.

“Although I feel for the parents tonight, there are things that are going to have to happen and we really have no choice,” Anagnostakos said. “I’m looking for a zero budget. I’m willing to face the community and say ‘these were cuts that had to be made’."

Anagnostakos said for the next several years, the board will have to cut spending without raising taxes. “The reason being is there’s no money,” he said.

However, board member Jerold Grupp disagreed. “We could make this budget zero today. We could throw a tremendous amount of fund balance and make it zero,” he said. But, Grupp noted, that will put the district in a very disadvantaged position next year, when costs are higher.

“As a board, we voted to not go with the (Act 1) exception and to hold this budget to 1.4 percent. The administration delivered,” Grupp said.