Brownsville board candidates discuss issues
Whether to renovate elementary schools in the Brownsville Area School District or build a new building, and even the location of the proposed building, remains a controversial issue this election. There are some candidates who think renovating the three older buildings would be cheaper than building a new one. Others say a new building should be built, but disagree whether it should be part of a complex next to the high school/middle school or whether it should stand alone at the site of the former Redstone Elementary School. Still other candidates believe a new elementary complex is needed but think it would be too great of a hardship on the taxpayers to build it now.
Four of the nine candidates for the Brownsville Area School Board voiced their opinions recently to the Herald-Standard Editorial Board about this and other issues facing the district.
New elementary building
The four candidates present – Jeff Bayne, Sandra Chan, Nena Kaminsky and Joyce Mayers – agreed there is a need for a new elementary school building but had varied solutions on how to achieve it.
Chan, an incumbent, pointed out that there is a 1-1 ratio of students to computers at the elementary schools, but because the buildings date back to the 1960s, the computers cannot all be plugged in without causing a power outage.
“We have no infrastructure,” said Chan, citing several different problems with the older buildings.
She said that renovating would cost several million dollars, and building a single complex would save the district money. Chan said she believes the board will make some decisions about the new complex this summer, including where the building should be located. Chan said she believes there is a pyrite problem near the high school, which could preclude this as a site for a new elementary complex. She favors building it on the site of the former Redstone Middle School.
Kaminsky, an incumbent, said that all three elementary buildings were in bad shape, and she liked the idea of placing a new elementary school next to the high school/middle school. She said there would be several accesses to the building and having the schools in the same location would save on transportation costs.
However, she said the board needs to consider whether or not the taxpayers can afford to help fund a new elementary complex at this time, since the district has just completed the new high school/middle school project.
“Cox Donahey is the most well-kept elementary building,” said Kaminsky. “We could look at renovating that into a single (elementary) complex at a fraction of the cost of rebuilding.”
Kaminsky also pointed out that the district has two architects on board because of what appeared to be a mistake in the contract of Molnar and Associates, since the contract stated they would be responsible for all building projects in the districts, including the elementary school. The board decided to hire a new contractor after Molnar completed the high school/middle school complex, and Kaminsky said as a result, the board could face litigation, which would be too expensive for the district.
Mayers, who is seeking a seat on the board, said she also felt the district needed a new elementary complex, and she thought that it should be built next to the high school, too.
“In most districts, complexes have kindergarten through 12th grade in one area,” said Mayers, agreeing that this would save on transportation costs.
She said since she is not on the board, she does not know for sure if the district has the resources to build the complex at this time.
“As far as the need, we need it, but as far as what the taxpayers will do to help fund it, I don’t know that,” said Mayers.
Bayne, who is seeking a seat on the board, agreed that building a complex could save the district money and “maintaining one building is easier than maintaining three,” but he said that giving the teachers the tools to best educate the students was more important than buildings.
“We have auditors telling us that we have financial problems,” said Bayne. “We need the new building, but it should not be an issue right now.”
Cutting costs
Candidates were also asked about ways of increasing finances and cutting costs in the district so that there would not be a need for tax increases, since the public and some board members have made it clear that they believe residents of the district cannot afford higher taxes.
Chan pointed out that the board is trying to save money through attrition and they are continuously looking at other ways of cutting costs.
“We have two less people working in administration,” said Chan. “Through attrition, we have been able to reduce staff. We are hiring a new business manager, and we want to get someone who is aggressive and will find ways of bringing money into the district. We have won major grants and we are fortunate to get them. That is one reason why our technology in the district is such a high point of pride. It is a challenge to be on a board in a district like Brownsville, but we are trying to run a lean machine.”
Kaminsky said that the board has curbed spending and cut costs wherever they could be cut without hurting the education of children in the district.
“One big problem is that we are at a $150,000 deficit in the cafeteria,” said Kaminsky, adding that the board has had to take money from the general fund to pay the bills of Nutrition Inc., the district’s food service provider. “We were not told about the deficit until we had our audit done.”
Kaminsky said that a report by Nutrition Inc. showed that Brownsville had higher salary costs than other districts, but their lunch prices were lower than anyone else. She also said that running a full kitchen at the middle school when the board originally planned to have the food for the middle school prepared in the high school cafeteria is costing a lot of money.
“We need to look at what we are going to do with that,” said Kaminsky, adding that she firmly believed that a higher sales tax was the only way that any district could cut property taxes.
Mayers said she believed the district’s administration had been successful in writing for grants, which alleviates some financial concerns. Other than bringing in grants, she said that she could only promise to be responsible as a board member with spending in the district.
Bayne said he could think of many ways to save tax dollars, including solving the problems in the cafeteria.
“I know when the district had their own food service manager, there was money in the account, and with Nutrition Inc., there is not,” said Bayne. “The big problem is they don’t charge enough for lunches.”
He cited examples of other districts charging $1.75 and Brownsville only charging $1.10.
He said the district should continue cutting staff when it can, pointing out that the board voted to hire a principal recently, when they had said that a new principal was not going to be hired.
“We need to be more conscious of the decisions we are making,” said Bayne.
Tax reform
Since all districts were required to place Act 1 legislation, which would raise earned income tax as a way to reduce property taxes, on the May election ballot, candidates were asked if they were in support of the act.
All four said they would not support the legislation because they believe it is nothing more than a “tax shift.”
“A tax shift won’t help the district or the taxpayer,” said Kaminsky. “Over 60 percent of our district is on a fixed income and some are on welfare. Nobody should lose their home because they can’t pay their school taxes. The only fair shift is a sales tax across the board.”
Mayers said that while a tax shift might create a new job for someone in Harrisburg, it would “not help the taxpayers at all.”
“I think all that would do is create a new tax on top of a property tax,” said Mayers.
Chan said that she felt the tax referendum was proof of the legislators’ failure to introduce tax reform.
“I doubt that anyone who is on the board will support this,” said Chan. “It was mandated that we had to put it on the ballot, but I don’t believe any of us are in favor of it.”
Bayne said that he did not believe that the increase in income tax would be fair to the taxpayer, and it would not help the district.
“We have so much low income in the district and a lot of elderly,” said Bayne. “Taxes really become a problem.”
Extended benefits
The candidates were also asked about the board’s recent decision to pay benefits until the age of 65 for employees who retire early, and most of them were in agreement that it would be best for the board to look into a co-pay plan in the future.
Chan said she thought this would be mentioned in future contracts.
Bayne said he felt that if someone wanted paid benefits until the age of 65, they should “join the real world and work until age 65.”
Kaminsky said that most people have to pay something toward health benefits, and although she had voted in favor of the early retirement package, she felt the board should look into co-pays.
Closing statements
Kaminsky said she decided to run for school director again because she has more she would like to accomplish.
“The students come first and foremost, but I also think it is important to consider fiscal responsibility,” said Kaminsky. “The taxpayers pay the bills. We’ve gotten grants for the technology we have, and we use what we can to the best of our ability. A lot still needs to be done. I want to be there to make the district better.”
Chan spoke proudly of the board hiring 23 new teachers last year in what she said was a fair and objective manner, and she said she believes that if the board “continues on that course, the quality of education will improve and be reflected in the achievement of the students.”
She said she would like to utilize her many years of experience in the district to help make important decisions in the next few years, since, she said, the district will hire a new superintendent and assistant superintendent, and she would also like to be there to see that the building projects needed in the district are carried out.
Mayers said that she is a mother and grandmother who is concerned with the district, especially because her grandchildren attend it.
“I want to see that the kids get a quality education,” said Mayers. “I would like to be a voice for the people.”
Bayne said he is running because he believes the district needs a change in the direction it is taking.
“We have some of the finest buildings in the county and we need the finest education,” said Bayne. “I would like to make conscious decisions for the voters. I stand for being a watchdog for the taxpayers, and I want a seat on this board to represent them. This board has made good and bad decisions, but the bad decisions are very costly to taxpayers. I stand for honesty, integrity and accountability.”
Not attending the forum were incumbents Andy Dorsey, Rocky Brashear and Francine Pavone, and challengers Steve Molnar and John Harvey.