Preliminary budget gets nod in Charleroi
The Charleroi Area School District is leaving open the door for a possible tax increase that could require a voter referendum.
But the goal, Superintendent Ed Zelich said, is to ultimately approve a final budget that is balanced without raising the millage above the state index of 4.9 mills.
The board Tuesday night approved a $24 million preliminary budget that increases spending by 10 percent. The district has filed for exceptions with the state which would allow the board to approve a spending plan that exceeds the state index for such rising costs as special education, pensions and health insurance premiums.
Zelich said the goal is to trim the budget in anticipation of the final spending plan due by June 30.
Zelich said the district is hampered by the state’s budget impasse. Charleroi Area is working on the 2016-17 school year budget while the state has yet to approve a budget for the 2016 Fiscal Year.
While the district is juggling budget figures, its Science, Technology, Engineering and Math education program received a financial boost from two benefactors.
The Charleroi Area Class of 1970 donated more than $7,000 for a zSpace interactive STEM technology. zSpace allows users to interact with simulated objects in virtual environments.
“This puts us on the cutting edge,” Zelich said.
The Charleroi Area Education Foundation also donated $2,700 for purchase of a 3D printer for the STEM program.
Meanwhile the board agreed to work with the Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association and Washington County, seeking grant funding for a brownfield reclamation project at the former Atlas building, acquired by the district in lieu of outstanding tax bill.