On Tap Thursday: More Proposed Cuts in the PASD Budget

It’s back to the budget Thursday evening in Phoenixville Area School District.

The district is facing a shortfall and is holding a series of public meetings to maintain transparency in the process and garner public input. Each has focused on specific aspects of the budget. Tonight, the administration will present its proposed cuts, with a red light, yellow light, green light structure.

Those cuts with little to no effect on instruction will be presented as the green light cuts. Proposed cuts with a moderate impact will be shown, lumped together as yellow light cuts. Finally, red light cuts will have a severe impact on instruction and will be a last resort.

At the March 21 meeting, the administration gave a preview of some of the cuts that will be discussed at Thursday’s meeting.

Technology budget cuts will be discussed, and the administration is trying to limit that budget to no increase for the 2011-2012 school year. One thing that will likely be discussed is the use of educational software. The cost of it and the usage will be presented Thursday.

The cost of athletics in the district will also be examined, and Stan Johnson, executive director of operations, said he’d get together information on the number of students involved and the total cost.

The administration was also asked to look into possibly severing its tie with the Phoenixville Public Library. Other districts have broken away from public libraries in the past, and board members asked the administration to look into that as a possibility. Johnson called it an “ongoing issue.”

One other issue that may pop up tonight is raising the occupational assessment tax in the district by the state cap of 1.4 percent. This would generate approximately $17,000.

The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday in the high school cafeteria. For more information or to see past presentations on the budget, visit the PASD Web site.