PASD School Board Plans Budget Vote Thursday

At Thursday’s Phoenixville Area School District school board meeting, the 2011-2012 final budget is set for approval.

Board members were invited to submit amendments they’d like to see to the $75.5 million budget. As of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, two amendments were submitted, both by Board Treasurer Josh Gould.

Gould’s first amendment restores funding to the Phoenixville Public Library to the 2010-2011 level of $508,326. As it stands now, the proposed final budget includes a $20,333 cut to the library year over year. Library representatives have said that cut would likely affect children’s programming at the library.

His second proposed amendment outlines the savings and revenue generation expected to be found by a new position, the director of continuous improvement. Though the position generated some discussion and at one point was listed as a potential cut, the director of continuous improvement is included in the 2011-2012 budget.

The position is a contract one, with a three-year span of employment. The director will be tasked with finding ways the district can save and generate money. Gould’s amendment reflects a $140,000 increase in revenues and a $125,000 decrease in expenditures expected to be found by the director of continuous impovement.

Some important notes on the proposed final 2011-2012 budget:

• It does not include salary increases. The teachers’ union at PASD is currently working in status quo, and two other unions will see contracts expire at the end of June. Negotiations are reportedly progressing.
• No sports programs will be cut if the budget passes as-is. Though potential athletic cuts to some freshman and middle school sports were at one point a “green light” cut, those have not been included in the proposed final budget.
• Pay-to-perform is, however, included in the 2011-2012 budget. It’s a tiered system where the cost will be either $25 or $50 per activity, depending on the cost of the activity to the district. There will be a maximum cap per family, and for those in the free or reduced lunch program, the district will attempt to find alternate funding sources.
• An overall reduction of 13.5 personnel positions is included in the 2011-2012 proposed final budget. Some of those are through attrition or retirement.

The school board will meet Thursday evening at 7 p.m. in the high school cafeteria. To see how the budget process progressed, view presentations on proposed cuts and see the final budget itself, visit the district’s budget page.