MILL HALL — Roughly three months after it voted to not hire an outside firm to complete a staffing study, and instead directed its superintendent to present information and recommendations on how to ensure its student to staff ratios align with the district’s needs, the Keystone Central School District Board of Directors are changing course.

At its voting session last Thursday, the board voted 2-6 against furlough recommendations from Superintendent Dr. Francis Redmon who — per the board’s request — conducted a staffing study to see if the current number was accurate following the loss of about 400 students in the last five years.

It instead directed Redmon to present information regarding potential outside firms. Discussions regarding possible firms included Devopar Consulting of Lititz, Pa., which the board chose not to hire in December; and Central Intermediate Unit 10 which offers its own form of a study.

During board discussion, Vice President John Miller questioned why the staffing study did not include a look at the district’s administration. A copy of the study was not made public.

Miller said he was appreciative that the study could lead to a potential $2.5 million cut in the district’s $92.5 million budget. However, he felt with the potential of a $5 million shortfall in the 2026-2027 budget shown by Business Manager Joni MacIntyre’s presentation a week prior, more could be done.

“I’m speaking for myself, it was a very hard pill to swallow with that staffing study. I’ve said before about the bloat we have with administration. Nothing was on that. I am very strongly against it,” he said.

Redmon said the staffing study was not motivated by cost savings.

“We were not considering finances in this. We were just looking at the difference in the number of students compared to five years ago,” he said. “That is what this staffing study was done for and what my request for permission to furlough was based on the results of that staffing study.”

Board Member Chris Scaff agreed with Miller’s statement about administration cuts. He referenced numbers he pulled for students per Act 93 (administrators) between the 2017-2018 school year and 2026.

He said his numbers showed there were 98 students per Act 93 employee in 2017-2018 and about 92 per Act 93 employee in 2026.

“There’s six more students that were averaged out to the Act 93 person in ’17 and ’18 and these numbers just don’t add up. I think we need to see administration cuts also. If we’re going to do a staffing study it’s just as important. If we get rid of teachers we’re hurting the students,” Scaff said.

Scaff also noted the board in years past had discussed redistricting to help right-size classroom sizes within the district. He said he felt the staffing study was “jumping into this backwards” and the district should consider a different direction.

Board Member Rich Wykoff said he didn’t see an issue with the number of administrators like Miller or Scaff.

He noted the administrators — such as principals and other supervisors — during his 30 years as an educator were integral.

“In order for the kids to have adequate supervision, adequate experiences our administrators have to be really good,” he said. “When we talk about bloat I can’t see what that is. I don’t have a picture of that because I know pretty much what these guys are doing and I don’t see bloat, I see need, I see not enough money to pay for the need and I think that’s where we’re at with this.”

Instead, Wykoff said the board needed to consider the programming it provides and how to best its staff to bolster these programs.

“What the heck is the programming that we’re really willing to eliminate because there are a couple teachers I know that if we get rid of them we lose an entire program. And I’m talking to the kids and they’re thriving in them,” he said.

Board Member Dr. Bill Baldino’s comments aligned with Wykoff’s. He noted that when he first joined the board he also felt the administration was overstaffed.

“They’ve been kind of paired down over the last two-plus years. Do we still have too many? I don’t know. It’s hard to tell,” Baldino said. “I think it would be a good idea to hire that consulting company and get another opinion about what’s going on.”

Board Member Manny Rodriguez said, after doing his own research into the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s ratio standards, he didn’t see the need to furlough staff.

“From what I’ve seen we’re not overstaffed. According to PA’s website we are not overstaffed, we are on the line, we are average,” he said.

He further said he felt the study should be made public.

“I feel they should be able to see what the study came up with. Because this is factual information, it shouldn’t be hidden from the public. Tax payers paid into getting that study done. I think they should be able to see what the study says about each school. Not the positions that are being put out for furlough. The actual study itself,” he said.

Scaff said he agreed with Rodriguez’s assessment, and also emphasized that the financial aspect was not the key part of the study.

“I’m 100 percent in the ballpark with Manny, our numbers are aligning with state regulations and pretty much where everybody else is,” he said.

He noted the district’s business office staff have been working hard, in terms of the budget, to present something that will be helpful for the board in its budget deliberations. However, the study wasn’t part of that.

Discussion later took place about Baldino’s recommendation that the board reconsider Devopar or another outside firm. The total cost for Devopar in December would not exceed $12,000, per its presentation.

“I was impressed by their presentation I saw and by talking to people they worked for. They found more money than they cost. I don’t see what the downside would be,” he said.

Board Member Roger Kshir, who was not part of the initial staffing study in December due to only being elected in February, said he agreed with Baldino.

“I don’t think the staffing study covered everything it should cover. I would hate to lose programs or anything like that based on a study,” he said.

Board President Elisabeth Lynch suggested the board also consider the Central Intermediate Unit 10 study if offers. She said she didn’t like the price for Devopar.

“Due to the importance of this I think a third party would absolutely be best. We’ve come full circle to see the value in that. But I would like to see a lower price,” she said.

Miller said he was open to the idea of hiring a third party.

“After what we’re going through maybe we should have done it from the get go,” he said.

During the board’s discussion in both December meetings, Miller was previously adamantly opposed to the idea of hiring an outside firm, instead saying staff should conduct the study.

“Personally I feel that instead of spending more money that could be done in-house. I don’t know whose job it would be… (but) if you can’t do your job without bias, there’s an issue,” Miller said during the board’s work session in December. “We as a board have to trust what you say, instead of throwing more money out of the door.”

Baldino asked Redmon if the district had considered the IU10 program when it first researched potential contractors to conduct the study.

Redmon said he believed, much like the Pennsylvania School Board Association’s (PSBA) study, it didn’t provide the same depth that Devopar’s did.

“The big difference we saw between PSBA and Devopar is that PSBA would only share with us the numbers and not provide any recommendations,” he said.

Redmon further noted the district is on a timeline as it continues to fine-tune the 2026-2027 budget for the board’s consideration in May and June.

He noted furloughs could have an impact on the budget, but it also gives the staff who would potentially be furloughed a better chance of securing a new position elsewhere.

Ultimately the board came to the consensus of pushing the staffing study and possible cuts ahead another year, to allow more time for another party to conduct research.

Miller said he was interested in hearing from IU10 and Devopar to compare.

“Then we can move forward. I think the staffing study needs to be done by a third party outside,” he said, noting he’d like to see more options beyond just Devopar.

Following discussion, the board voted down the recommendation by Redmon in a 2-6 votes with Wykoff and Baldino voting in favor of it and Kshir, Lynch, Rodriguez, Scaff and Shelby Bohartz voting against it.