Pa. Dept. of Education approves Penn Hills district recovery plan
With debt exceeding $ 170 million, Penn Hills School District can now move forward with implementing its recovery efforts after Pennsylvania’s Department of Education approved its financial recovery plan.
Through the years, the district’s debt started to pile up after the construction of two state- of- the- art schools and declining enrollment. Dan Matsook, the district’s state- appointed financial recovery officer, constructed the recovery plan with guidance from a special advisory committee.
Pennsylvania Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera approved the plan in a letter addressed to Mr. Matsook on Tuesday.
Mr. Rivera said the proposed plan is “comprehensive in nature” and outlines a path to restoring financial stability in the district. Mr. Rivera said the district is expected to carry out the plan “in its entirety.”
In January, the department placed Penn Hills into financial recovery status, giving the state control over the district’s finances, and it appointed a financial recovery officer to form a financial plan.
The district’s financial issues were detailed after an Allegheny County grand jury investigated the district’s finances and found that the construction projects were a product of failed leadership and mismanagement that left the district in a “catastrophic financial condition.”
Originally, the first draft of the recovery plan was to lay off 55 teachers, which would have saved the district about $ 3.9 million out of a proposed budget of $ 90 million, and also included a 6.7% property tax hike. However, with the help of state Sen. Jay Costa, D- Forest Hills, the district received $ 3.3 million from the state. The funding helped eliminate the proposed tax increase and allowed the district to lay off 30 positions instead of the proposed 55 in an updated plan that was approved by the school board on June 29.
School board President Erin Vecchio commended Mr. Costa for helping the district obtain state funding.
“Everything is moving in the right direction,” Ms. Vecchio said. “I’m looking forward to making Penn Hills look good again.”
Ms. Vecchio said she hopes recovery efforts will help bring students who went to charter schools back to the public schools.
Mr. Matsook said he is excited that the plan was approved, noting that the extra funding allowed for healthy class sizes with the decrease in teacher layoffs and emotional support programming for students who are at risk.
“Those things are critical to bringing back students who have left the district to go to charter schools,” Mr. Matsook said.
Mr. Matsook also said it is a step toward working on other initiatives to obtain sustainable revenue to help alleviate the massive debt.
“What we need is a steady income,” Mr. Matsook said. “We need some type of revenue adjustment that we can count on a yearly basis and not hope for on a yearly basis.”
Superintendent Nancy Hines said in an email, however, that the Department of Education expressed concerns about the district’s decision to avoid a tax increase for the 2019- 20 year.
Ms. Hines said the district is preparing an amendment to the recovery plan that will address how the district will fill the gap created by the one year of tax relief in the 2020- 21 budget.
With kindergarten classroom sizes now at 20 students, and no other oversized classes, Ms. Vecchio said the ratio of students per teacher is “perfect” right now.
Ms. Vecchio said she now wants to look at the administrators’ salaries.
“Because their salaries are so high,” Ms. Vecchio said. “I’d rather have people here teaching than administrators. I’m here to educate these kids and not make sure these administrators have top salaries.”
Mr. Matsook said the advisory committee will continue to meet to monitor the progress of the plan.
“I know [ Penn Hills is] a proud community that isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and work hard,” Mr. Matsook said. “Which is of course what we are going to need in this financial crisis.”