Finding the right balance

WEST NORRITON » In what Norristown Area School District CFO Anne Rohricht called “a pretty ambitious venture,” administrators — at the school board’s request — have presented a proposed preliminary budget for the 2018-2019 school year with no tax increase.

Rohricht made the announcement at the Norristown Area School Board of Directors meeting Monday night.

The preliminary budget, which is required by state law to be made public by Jan. 25, is still in its nascent stages and its adoption won’t be finalized until the end of June. But the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s deadline for the

adoption of the preliminary budget is Feb. 14 and the school board will conduct a special meeting to approve it Feb. 12.

Acknowledging the relatively high property taxes in the district, which consists of Norristown and East and West Norriton townships, the budget’s architects were tasked with finding a way to balance the needs of the students with the burden on taxpayers, Rohricht said. And it won’t be easy. With the commonwealth facing an estimated $1 billion budget shortfall, the possibility of property tax elimination legislation and a federal government with an administration Rohricht described as “not pro public education,” a number of uncertainties could change the metrics used to determine the final budget.

Currently 71 percent of school funding comes from the local community while 24 percent comes from the state and 5 percent comes from the federal government.

In addition, the district’s June 30, 2018, school year ending fund balance of $692,271 added to 201819 projected revenues of $151,333,300, minus projected expenses (given status quo programming) at $155,183,050 and a required minimum fund balance of $1 million by June 30, 2019, means — if all else stays the same — that the district would have to cut costs or raise revenue in the amount of $4,157,479 in order to not have a tax increase for the 2018-19 school year.

Other challenges to the district’s bottom line are potential wage and benefits increases — negotiations with the teachers union, the Education Association of Norristown, are ongoing but healthcare rates are expected to decrease — a looming crisis involving the Pennsylvania Public School Retirement System, which has an employer contribution exceeding 30 percent — underfunded state and federal mandates and charter school tuition. “It’s going to require us to take a look at our traditional priorities,” Rohricht said, adding that certain items such as kindergarten, manageable class sizes, providing adequate materials and resources, music, arts and foreign languages classes, English language learning, special education, School Resource Officers and facilities management need to be maintained.

Rohricht highlighted several staffing changes and cost cutting suggestions that could help to balance the budget, including repurposing space at the Roosevelt campus to operate an on-site alternative program, the elimination of some or all nonmandated programs (possibly including full-day kindergarten), identifying and implementing strategies to bring back and retain charter school students and outsourcing of support staff commensurate with attrition.

She also presented possible revenue generating moves such as the selling of Roosevelt Field and another district-owned property, with proceeds going toward operating expenses.

Board members thanked Rohricht and her staff for their hard work on the difficult task of budget formulation and board member George Kennedy asked that the budget be shared with the three governing bodies as quickly and comprehensively as possible.

“We are going to have to make these difficult decisions and we can’t do it in a vacuum,” said School Board President Turea Hutson.

“This is going to have to be a collective effort to make these decisions, so we’ll need community input, we’ll need community involvement. This is going to be a process that involves all of us. We are all stakeholders here,” she continued, adding that she hoped the board’s newlyannounced committee restructuring would add to transparency and more efficient dissemination of information.

In other business at the meeting:

• The board welcomed new Board Secretary Kathleen DiMaio, whose appointment was approved unanimously.

• Public comments focused on having an open process with community involvement in the search for a new head coach of the Norristown Area High School football team to replace outgoing coach Jason Powell.

• Representatives from the Norristown alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. requested a $2,600 fee waiver for meetings held twice monthly at Norristown Area High School. In making the request, Chapter President Michael Deshield highlighted the scholarships, mentoring programs, education competition and local service projects the chapter has performed in and around Norristown.

• Following the student reports portion of the meeting, Superintendent Dr. Janet Samuels and student representative Victoria Lee honored the school board with a proclamation from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and tokens of appreciation in observance of School Director Recognition Month. Samuels thanked the board for their care and compassion and dedication to children and staff.

• Kennedy gave high marks to a recent open house he attended which showcased the talents of the students at Central Montco Technical High School.

• Hutson announced that the Harlem Wizards are returning to Norristown Area High School on March 16. Volunteers are needed.