School District's Budget Planning Process Receives Help from Citizens

The Phoenixville Area School District’s 2012-2013 budgetary planning process gained 18 more microscopes when the school board appointed an ad hoc community budget advisory committee designed to examine and suggest potential areas of savings and new revenue opportunities for the district.

That 18-member committee, comprised of residents from the three municipalities covered by the district—Phoenixville Borough, East Pikeland Township and Schuylkill Township—began meeting in September and will continue to meet until December, when plans call for the group to present its recommendations to the board of directors.

The group’s first milestone comes on Oct. 26 when its two subcommittees—one devoted to finding cost efficiencies and the other focused on revenue generation—meet together to share their recommendations with the committee at large. Meetings are open to the public and held in the district's new administration building.

“Once the subcommittees meet, the full committee will pull together their recommendations and use them to complete a report to be presented to the board of education on Dec. 1,” said school district Superintendent Dr. Alan Fegley.

Fegley explained that work being done now by the committee fits well into the district’s budget development timeline. Recommendations from the committee’s report will be used to refine an overall preliminary budget for presentation by the administration to the board by the end of December or early January. This “early crack at the budget” will then be refined through the spring, with a goal of presenting it to the board again in May.

“Our overall goal is to come up with a budget that is as cost-efficient as possible,” he said. “This is a wonderful opportunity for the district to work with the Phoenixville community for the benefit of our schools, and most importantly, our students.”

Some of the committee’s work includes analyzing current expenditures, with a goal of increasing efficiencies and achieving savings. In addition, committee members are reviewing district appropriations, expenditures and financial audits. The committee is also tasked with generating ideas for possible opportunities to share services with neighboring municipalities and school districts, find alternative revenue sources and other potential savings.

“I believe the ideas that the committee will be presenting to the board are very compelling,” the superintendent said. “They are working hard to come up with concepts that will save costs and raise revenues while also mitigating tax increases.”

In keeping with state statute, all policy making and financial authority remains with the board of education.

The concept of a community-based advisory committee was born after a majority of the board approved the current school year’s $75.3-million budget. Board President Paul Slaninka selected the 18 committee members from a pool of 40 applications submitted throughout the summer, looking for everything from small business owners to stay-at-home moms.

“The committee is comprised of a wide-variety of people with various backgrounds,” Fegley said. “The area our district covers is so diverse and we wanted a committee that best represents the people we serve.”

Joseph Little, a Schuylkill Township resident, serves as chair of the committee. In addition to this role, Little is also president of the board of trustees of the Phoenixville Community Education Foundation, as well as a managing partner with Bala Financial Group.

“With Joe’s financial background and prominence in the community, he was the perfect candidate to chair this committee,” Fegley said.

Other committee members include:

From Phoenixville Borough – Eileen McCullough, John Marosek, Michelle Schamis, Rebecca Souchik, Ronald Magin and Scott Coonradt

From East Pikeland Township – Christopher Cervino, Jennifer Brower, Kimberly Smith, Natalie Sadofsky, Regina McLoud and Richard Hackman

From Schuylkill Township – Brian Wilchusky, David Wentzel, Heather Delgrosso, Renee Pfender and Roger McMinn

Fegley and board president Paul Slaninka presented committee members with some guidelines and parameters at their first meeting. Fegley said the full committee met twice this fall, but that subcommittees meet more frequently and typically late into the night.