Superintendent warns about state cutbacks
CARMICHAELS — Carmichaels Area School District Superintendent Craig Baily warned school directors Thursday about Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget cuts and how those budget cuts, if passed, would affect the district.
Baily said the governor’s proposed cuts would decrease the district’s budget by $1.2 million, or 8 percent of the district’s budget of about $15 million. To cover the proposed deficit, which schools across the state would be facing, Baily said superintendents from each of Greene County’s five school districts are meeting regularly to discuss options.
“We meet and discuss where we have to cut and what we would have to cut that would cause the least impact,” Baily said.
Although the budget cuts are preliminary, Baily said the district must prepare for the “worst -case scenario.”
Baily added that the district can legally only raise taxes by .45 of a mill, which would only generate $60,000 in additional revenue for the district. A tax increase of .45 of a mill would cost a property owner an additional $450 for a property valued at $100,000.
Baily said he plans to meet with state Rep. Bill DeWeese, D-Waynesburg, on Friday to discuss the proposed budget cuts.
Board members asked Baily to make sure that despite the proposed cuts, the district maintains its current technology. Director Ken Ganocy asked Baily to remind DeWeese that the cuts are “messing with the most valuable resource we have — our children.” He also requested that the state looks for other ways to reduce the budget before taking funding away from education.
“This is going to affect the way we do business,” Baily said. “You don’t have $1.2 million extra lying around. It’s still early in the game, but we want to be prepared.”
In other business, the board denied Dawson Geophysical Co. the permission to conduct a geological survey over the district’s property. The 3-D map, which would be created for Atlas Energy, would assess the oil and natural gas beneath the ground. The board voted against the request because the district does not own the mineral rights beneath the property.
Baily also announced that John Hines, executive deputy secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, will serve as the 2011 graduation commencement speaker. Hines is a 1986 graduate of Carmichaels Area High School.
Board members agreed to changed the previously scheduled April meeting from April 21 to April 14 to avoid Holy Thursday religious conflicts.