Borough officials, teachers push school district to confront budget reality

"The roof is on fire, and I feel like nobody is actually paying attention," teacher Mikki Angerman said at a joint work session between the borough assembly and school board on March 24.

Nearly 50 members of the public attended the meeting, and Angerman's impassioned speech to the school board exemplified the widespread frustration with the district's handling of its large budget shortfall.

The meeting coincided with the release of the district's third draft of next year's budget. Business Manager Kristy Andrew presented four different versions of the budget, showing the different financial consequences of two variables: whether the state significantly increases the base student funding formula and whether the borough contributes $1.4 million or $1.7 million to the budget.

Even with the most favorable estimates for state and municipal funding, the draft $5.9 million spending plan still shows revenues coming up short by $374,000.

Andrew, Schools Superintendent Bill Burr and Board President Dave Wilson were the predominant speakers on behalf of the district. Burr and Wilson maintained the district's long-held stance that they are "exploring all options," for budget cuts but did not provide anything tangible or specific.

The district's lack of any figures for potential savings from specific cuts and reductions flummoxed many members of the audience.

"Why do we not have hard numbers from the school board?" Angerman said. "I'm urging the school board to do the right thing, to ask the questions, to take a leadership role and take actionable steps. I don't want to just hear, 'We're talking about that.'"

Kate Thomas, the borough's economic development director, synthesized the audience's concerns when she spoke toward the end of the meeting.

"The audience wants hard facts," she said. "If we don't have that, we're going to sit around and talk in circles about what's right or wrong ... and who thinks what. It's all conjecture and subjective."

In an effort to find solutions to the district's budget woes, Borough Manager Mason Villarma proposed two solutions. Villarma's first proposal was to set a threshold to define "major maintenance." The borough owns the school buildings and is responsible for any major maintenance - a distinction that lacked clarity until the meeting. The district covers the expenses for routine maintenance.

Now, that cutoff is $25,000 after both the school board and the assembly agreed on the figure. Below $25,000, the district pays. Above $25,000, the borough pays.

That solution will free up some money held in reserve by the district and may provide the schools a couple more years before needing to make substantial cuts, either in the form of school consolidation or staff reductions.

The schools currently have $1.2 million set aside for capital projects and major maintenance. The school administration has been hesitant to reallocate that money to cover operating expenses. However, with the new $25,000 limit established, Villarma pointed out that $1.2 million for capital projects would be better used to cover the school's operating budget deficit.

Villarma added that initial drafts of City Hall's budget show the borough is in its own deficit of an estimated $640,616 for next year. In an effort to save costs on the borough's end, Villarma said assembly members will not travel next year and that they will drop a plan to hire an assistant for the borough manager.

The manager also offered the schools the wholesale rate for light and power, something he estimated could save the district around $100,000 annually.

"If the school district does the parallel things that the city's doing - cutting administrative fat, cutting travel, taking advantage of wholesale (rates) - and you plug the rest with the CIP fund (money set aside for capital improvements), then you've got lots of years of funding without cutting educators," Villarma said.

The crowd applauded.

The other suggestion that came from the borough was to create a joint committee between members of the school district and officials from City Hall to explore different forms of consolidation.

Wilson pointed out that consolidation does not need to be one enormous sweeping endeavor. Instead, the elementary school could be consolidated into just one of the two buildings it occupies, or the middle school and high school could be consolidated into just the high school building (with the exception of the shop classroom).

However, when the borough manager suggested forming a public committee to explore tangible possibilities for consolidation, Wilson pushed back.

"This is something the board needs to discuss," he said. "To try and back us into a corner, how we're going to do it right now, I think is inappropriate."

Villarma responded: "The board is up against a wall," he emphasized, "and so is the assembly this year. I'm not forcing that upon you. It's just a matter of circumstance. ... We have to work as partners to solve it."

Middle school teacher Laura Davies applauded forming a committee, adding that including the public in the process is a key piece for finding solutions.

"Teachers have pages of ideas with educational degrees," Davies said. "I think when you make this committee, we need parents and teachers."

For Thomas, the formation of a committee would not only allow the district to be better informed, but including the public could make the decision an easier one.

"When you give the power back to the people, it makes your decision a lot easier," she said. "I would encourage an assessment of the different scenarios and options."

Thomas then outlined a step-by-step process for how the school district could do this. She encouraged them to assess the different scenarios (staff cuts, administrative reductions, school consolidation) through both a financial lens and through a social/emotional lens. She suggested that the school administrators, faculty and staff all rank the options from most ideal to least ideal. After that, she encouraged the school district administration to open up the decisions for public input.

School board member Angela Allen agreed with this.

"I think having a committee would be beneficial because that's when you're going to get the feedback if this is accepted by enough people to make it worthwhile."