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KC board facing key decisions

MILL HALL — The Keystone Central School Board will meet this coming Thursday, April 5, when members will begin to hone in on a final budget and try to eliminate – for now – a multi-million dollar deficit.

This meeting is key because it sets the stage for a vote on Thursday, May 17, at Renovo on a preliminary budget, and a Thursday, June 14, budget adoption vote.

Next Thursday’s meeting will begin with a program planning meeting at 5 p.m. and a work session at 6 p.m., both in the Central Mountain High School auditorium.

The school board faces many key decisions, including the future of Dickey Elementary School, whether it will continue the Pre-K program, if multiple teaching and staff positions will be eliminated, and which superintendent candidate will be hired.

The board has talked about increasing property taxes up to the state index of 3.3 percent of a mill, which would equate to a change as follows:

r Clinton County would see an increase of $44 on average, or $23 at the median.

r Centre County would actually see a decrease of $47 on average, or $25 at the median.

r Potter County would see an increase of $140 on average, or $73 at the median.

Moreover, the board likely will still have to dip into the district’s reserve or fund balance to cover expenses.

As the school board’s preliminary meeting agenda is not generally released until a day or so prior to the meeting, attendees should be prepared for the board to discuss the following major issues:

BUDGET

So far, according to Business Manager Susan Blesh, the only budget items which have been officially voted on and approved are:

r Bond Refinancing ($1,729,834)

r Eliminate the payroll secretary and merge with benefit secretary ($43,682)

r Eliminate the purchasing secretary and merge with the athletic secretary ($43,682)

Blesh noted that she does not have a current list of all potential cuts, but that it will be discussed at the April 5 meeting and that the list will be posted on Keystone’s website.

In the mean time, the most up to date information comes from a presentation given by Dr. Alan Lonoconus, the acting interim superintendent, at last month’s meeting.

According to the presentation, the original budget deficit with all of the updated expense numbers came to $10,877,902.

However, the following budgetary steps are marked as having already been taken:

r Reduction to operating budgets ($1,422,000)

r Reduction to athletic operating budget ($57,000)

r Attrition of 17/18 AY positions ($792,000)

r Attrition of 18/19 AY positions ($870,703)

r Eliminate paint crew ($15,000)

Still, this leaves Keystone with a deficit of $7.7 million. The projected budget expenses come to $80.5 million, while the revenue is only currently $72.8 million.

Dr. Lonoconus’ recommendations would have the district pull $2 million from its reserve funds to help offset the disparity between revenue and expense for 2018-19.

In addition, he recommends the district increase taxes to the index, at 3.3 percent, which would account for around $700,000 of additional revenue.

Along with new state subsidies from Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget of $101,816 and a natural growth in tax revenues from real estate of $121,440, Lonoconus’ budget also includes an estimated $765,000 assumption that the district will receive the Pre-K Counts grant detailed below.

Furthermore, his plan sees an additional $350,000 reduction of operating budget cuts, $923,000 saved from additional positions which will be attritioned out, and $113,000 saved from the closure of the Renovo branch of the pre-K program, which would not be covered by the Pre-K Counts grant.

His plan brings the deficit for the 2018-19 budget down to $917,109.

But it comes at a steep cost.

Broken down, the total positions attritioned come to the following:

r 21 teaching positions: two English, two art, four music, five special education, four elementary, two CTE, one library, and one pre-K (from Renovo).

r Two secretarial staff: the purchasing/athletics secretary in the business and athletics office, and the payroll/benefits secretary in the business office.

r Five administrative staff: the PIMS supervisor, property service supervisor, director of curriculum, assistant principal, and merging the administrative assistant position between business and human resources

r 10 support staff: five housekeepers, three building assistants, and one pre-K assistant (also from Renovo).

In addition, the building and department budgets look to be cut by another $250,000 and the one-to-one budget will be reduced by an additional $100,000.

Again, according to the business manager, the bond refinancing and the two secretarial positions are the only changes which have been officially voted on and approved by the board.

A more complete picture should emerge after the April 5 meeting.

PRE-KINDERGARTEN

The debate surrounding Keystone’s Pre-K program has simmered for some time now. Pre-K’s survival was originally called into question during the 2017-18 budget debates last year, as the $800,000 cost of running the Pre-K program has been attacked by some board members, including Roger Elling, Charles Rosamilia, and Deb Smith, as being a luxury the district can ill afford.

The program, which began in 2016 and can currently hold 56 students, was part of a plan to help keep students in the district by starting them in the district, as well as to improve their educational standing.

To help pay for the program through the end of the current school year, the district received a $428,000 grant in August 2017. The grant, however, was only for one year.

The district is attempting to source additional Pre-K funding moving forward. Most recently, the board heard a presentation on Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts, which was established by the state Department of Education.

According to the presentation, in order for a family to qualify for the Pre-K Counts program, they must be at or below the 300 percent poverty level.

For a family of two, this would mean an annual income of less than $49,380, for example.

The grant, if obtained, would provide close to 100 percent of the cost of the Pre-K program.

However, it would require changes to Keystone’s existing program:

r 100 children would be required to fill the program, up from the district’s current 56 slots.

r This would result in five classrooms at 20 children apiece.

r As a result, the program would employ five teachers and five assistants.

These student population requirements are firm, and have resulted in the recommendation of the administration to ax the Renovo Pre-K room, which would not be covered under the grant due to a lack of population.

The dark lining to this cloud is that the grant is not guaranteed. In fact, the district won’t know if it will receive the grant until around July 31… after the district will have already submitted its budget for the 2018-19 school year.

It has not currently been released to the public if the district intends to pursue this grant and attempts to maintain its pre-K programming.

DICKEY ELEMENTARY

As the district is in fiscal crisis, the subject of closing a school is central to the discussion.

On Feb. 12, the district held a special meeting, at which they voted 5-4 to hold a public hearing, the next necessary step in the school closing process.

Board president Charles Rosamilia, who cast the deciding vote on whether to hold the hearing, said “yes because it’s an option and we need to keep the discussion open, not yes because Dickey will for sure close.”

The hearing was held on March 5 and saw just 10 community members speak before the board and a room full of their assembled peers.

Some spoke on behalf of the school out of a desire to preserve their sense of community, class sizes, and teacher relationships.

Several others, though, spoke with arguments to close Dickey, saying student test scores are too low, that the overall budget is more important, and that socio-economic diversity is a positive influence on students.

Concerned parents, led by M. J. Haroulakis, began a petition shortly after the Feb. 12 special meeting. By the time of the March 5 hearing, it had received around 350 signatures.

A contingent of these parents and community members also attended the hearing wearing blue shirts saying “Dickey Proud.”

Dr. Lonoconus gave a presentation at the hearing on the financial aspect of closing Dickey and what it would mean for the budget.

According to Dr. Lonoconus, the total cost to run Dickey Elementary is $2.376 million based on the current year’s budget.

However, this is not the amount the district would save by closing the building.

That is because 22 staff — 13 teachers, one counselor, one administrator, two custodians, one secretary, four cafeteria workers — would need to be furloughed.

The actual savings to the district would be closer to $1.6 million as a result.

Dr. Lonoconus’ presentation also included a grim note: Dickey Elementary stands to require a number of capital projects to keep running. The slide included the following: renovate classrooms, library, and cafeteria/gym area; roof; fire alarm system; windows; playground fence and blacktop, and paving.

Dickey cannot be legally closed before June 5, as there is a three-month period for comment and discussion following the public hearing, required by law.

The April 5 meeting will be the first time the board will have held a public work session since the hearing.

MOVING FORWARD

The school board will meet on Thursday, April 5, starting with a program planning meeting at 5 p.m. and a work session at 6 p.m., both in the Central Mountain High School auditorium.

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