Laurel board fails to approve budget cuts
The Laurel Highlands School Board on Tuesday failed to approve more than $700,000 in budget adjustments needed to keep the school district’s tentative 2003-2004 budget at the level approved last month. The district also discussed the possibility of raising taxes by 10 percent, as allowed by state law.
During a finance committee work session, business manager Joyce Estocak reviewed with the board a list of $737,000 in budget cuts that the board had agreed upon before it adopted the $33,121,763 tentative budget.
The cuts included $145,000 from salaries of a special education teacher, three special education aide positions, one guidance counselor position, two custodial positions and several coaching positions that would go unfilled. Another $93,000 was cut from group insurance, and the board proposed $499,000 in cuts to supplies and services, including $50,000 from vocational-technical school tuition, $40,000 in technology equipment and $20,000 in library books.
Those cuts are needed to keep the tentative budget at the rate at which it was approved, according to Superintendent Dr. Ronald Sheba. To date, there have been four retirements at the elementary level and four retirements at the high school, and seven of those eight positions will be filled before the start of school, he said.
Sheba stressed that all of the budget cuts involve positions that are not filled, so no one will lose a job. He said the board could revisit these positions once the district knows how much money it will receive from the state and whether the district will have a fund balance.
At the special meeting that followed the work session, the board failed to get enough votes to approve the budget cuts, with Angelo Giachetti voting no and Mary Conway passing on the motion. Directors Judy Browell, Julia Ciarrocchi and Shirley Kefover were absent Tuesday.
Director Mary Conway was upset that two custodial positions will go unfilled, and she told the board and administration that she would not vote for any cuts to the custodial staff or any cuts to the cafeteria staff.
The directors voted against a motion that would abolish the two custodial positions, one each at Kennedy and Hutchinson elementary schools, and would abolish three cafeteria helper positions, one each at Kennedy, Hutchinson and Marshall.
The motion also included the re-posting of four custodial positions (one at the high school, one at Hatfield Elementary School and two at the middle school) and the re-posting of two cafeteria helper positions at the middle school and one at the high school. Conway and Giachetti voted against the motion.
Sheba said the final budget cannot pass unless all of the cuts are approved first, because they were removed before adoption of the tentative budget.
“What else do you want us to cut? We feel that this does the least amount of harm to the educational process,” he said. “Everybody said they wanted cuts made, but if we take any more, we’re going to have to cut staff, and, based on our enrollment numbers, I don’t think we can cut it.”
The board discussed taking advantage of a state law that permits school districts to raise taxes as much as 10 percent in the year after a countywide reassessment. Tom Vernon, finance committee chairman, said budget talks have included discussion about taking the full 10 percent, which he said would keep the spending plan at its proposed level and give the district a fund balance of as much as $100,000.
If the directors choose not to take the 10 percent millage increase, he said, another 10 percent in cuts would have to be made before the board can adopt the final budget.
“I really feel that we have to take it (10 percent),” Vernon said. “To get this budget passed, we have to come up with some more money somewhere.”
Giachetti said he is having a hard time supporting a 10 percent increase, saying that in today’s economy money is tight and people might have a hard time coming up with the extra money to pay higher taxes.
“I find it hard to raise millage at all,” he said.
Based on figures from the assessment office, a revenue-neutral tax rate for the district would be 13.1 mills, and a 10 percent increase would make the tax rate 14.41 mills. Because of the changes in the assessment ratio, a taxpayer would pay $144 per $10,000 of assessed value.
Before adjourning, the directors voted to approve the 2003-04 cafeteria budget, which calls for $1,155,566 in expected revenue and $1,092,754 in expected expenditures; named Robert Costello as head boys and girls track and field coach; and voted to hire attorney Ira Weiss as legal counsel for the school board, at $125 per hour, if a disciplinary hearing is held.
Solicitor Gary Frankhouser said the district would use the extra counsel as a hearing officer, while Frankhouser would serve as counsel for the administration to present evidence to the board during the hearing, should one be required for the disciplinary matter.
Finally, the board scheduled another finance committee meeting for Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the administration building, with a special meeting to follow at 7 p.m.