May School Board Meeting – all Board members present
WCASD superintendent spoke of upcoming graduations at
district high schools and also of an awards and retirement recognition ceremony
occurring before that evening’s meeting.
Especially endearing this month were the final reports from the three
district high school representatives. One young man reminisced that he had been
in the district since kindergarten in 1999, and stated that he would not trade his experience in WCASD public schools
for anything in the world. Congratulations and thanks to those young men for their service and to all our 2012 high school
graduates. We know they will continue to make WCASD proud as they
continue on their life journeys.
Financial report
We are reminded that we are “fortunate in WCASD”, having
collected 97% of our local revenue.
State revenue has decreased, due to elimination of charter school
payment and transportation subsidy reduction, likewise with federal revenue due to
expiration of stimulus money. The
district did budget for 70% of those state and federal revenue reductions and
also for “conservative increases ” in local revenue. The
district has realized savings “across the budget”, in salaries, benefits,
utilities, debt service, transportation, supplies, and charter school tuitions.
A savings of 3.4 million in expenses is projected by year end, and variances in actual expenses and
revenues will be placed in a fund balance to be designated for the closing of 2013/14
budget gap (fund equals 3.1
million). The district’s unreserved/undesignated fund balance is projected to be 12.8 million, or 6.4% of budget, at year end.
Education Committee
More comment on new Pennsylvania, Our Home textbook
selection, with committee chair noting that one of the benefits of chairing the
committee - other than the fact of being able to choose the textbook her own
child will use - was to hear the positive feedback from staff and she has heard much. Also of note was gratitude expressed to Education
Committee chair by Personnel director for her assistance in interviewing and
choosing the new assistant principal at Rustin High School.
Pupil services
No public meeting last month, but a teaser for June meeting,
where the position of Special Education Liaison will be discussed.
Personnel
May 21 executive session noted. One content area Lead Educator for World Languages
was removed and the position title of Supervisor
of World Language and Fine Arts was created.
Before vote was taken (unanimous FOR), one Board member commented that
she “heard good things about this candidate” - who is already employed with the
district - and hoped the Board would
continue to consolidate/shift positions in these “tough economic times”.
Board reports:
Outreach
Our liaison is looking forward to attending upcoming
district graduations, which are a “perfect opportunity for community outreach”.
Intermediate Unit
Final group of CCIU secretaries take pay freeze, saving 2.6
million dollars. CAT Pickering to be
known as Technical College High School – Pickering Campus and news of a Franklin
Mint Credit Union location to be staffed by students.
Legislative liaison/PSBA
representative
PSBA legislative breakfast hosted by Chester County
Intermediate Unit. In attendance were
Representatives Chris Ross, John Lawrence, Steve Barrar and a representative
from Senator Dinniman’s office. PSBA continues to provide legislative updates
to the Board, and reiterated need for PSER’s reform and prevailing wage relief –
nothing we have not heard before.
What was new and of particular note
was the detailed mention of HB 1776, Property Tax Independence Act, a bill
introduced by PA Representative Jim Cox. Our legislative liaison went on to
tell us that HB 1776 would raise the state income tax rate, now at 3.07%, to about 4%, raise the sales tax rate, now 6% in most counties,
to 7%, and eliminate the sales-tax
exemption on many goods and services that are now not taxed.
See Cox’s FAQ’s on the bill at http://www.repjimcox.com/proptaxindepact.aspx
and also http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/state/proposed-legislation-would-end-property-tax-funding-for-schools-in-pa-637781/
One will recall the May 7
Harrisburg rally concerning HB 1776 and the unveiling of the “Declaration of
Property Tax Independence” document. PA Taxpayers Cyber Coalition, a
group contained within the larger PA Coalition of Taxpayer Associates, are a major
lobbying group for property tax reform and this particular legislation, http://www.ptcc.us/index.htm. Of note are local representatives
co-sponsoring HB 1776: Barrar, Killion, Lawrence, Hennessy, Truitt. There is a comparable bill in the Senate (SB
1400), with local co-sponsors Erickson and Rafferty.
While our legislative liaison
admitted she “did not know where this
bill would go”, she was very happy to see that our legislators are thinking
“outside the box” when it comes to property tax reform. The “box”? Must be the box that the Pennsylvania School Board Association
dwells in. On May 26, 2012, Dr. Dave Davarre, Director of
Research Services for PSBA, testified in
front of the House Finance Committee against HB 1776.
His closing comments:
The only way to ensure that a
property tax reform plan has the intended impact on local property taxpayers
and does not negatively impact the quality of education in the school district
is to address those factors that continue to drive up the cost of
education. For example, a comprehensive solution would revise the
funding formula for cyber charter schools to ensure that school districts are
not paying more to each cyber charter school than is necessary to educate a
cyber charter school student. In fact,
simply deducting retirement costs from the expenditures that are used to
determine payment costs to charter schools to prevent a pension double dip
would save school districts over $500 million by 2016-17 alone, which would
make a significant impact on the overall cost of public education. A comprehensive solution to the property
tax problem would also tackle the issue of funding for special education and
provide a more fair formula that reflects the needs of the students in each
school district and the actual number of students served, and it would
alleviate the burden and cost that comes with some mandates such as paying
prevailing wage and complying with the Separations Acts*, which drive up the
cost of education and keep dollars out of the classroom. A successful and effective property tax
reform plan must diversify the tax base while simultaneously address the costs
that drive a school district budget. In
conclusion, HB 1776 is a complex proposal, and while PSBA continues to review
each facet of the plan to better understand the impact it will have on our
school districts, we simply cannot
support a proposal that eliminates school property taxes completely.
*The
Pennsylvania Separations Act of 1913 requires public entity construction
projects (costing more than $4,000) to solicit separate bids and award separate
contracts for electrical, heating, ventilating and plumbing work http://www.alleghenyconference.org/PEL/SeperationActReform.asp
Let’s give our legislative
liaison the benefit of a doubt here. Keep in mind that she was the only “no”
vote on the WCASD 2012/13 budget which includes a 1.7% tax increase. She feels strongly about property tax reform
and that conviction compelled her to share the news of HB 1776 with the
community in her capacity as Board legislative liaison. What is concerning to
some is the fact that she was not compelled, in her capacity as PSBA
representative, to also share PSBA’s concerns about HB 1776 and its impact on
the “quality of education in the school district”.
Charter school
Liaison visited the Sankofa Academy Charter School and
reports she will revisit and provide a more detailed report next time. Most
encouraging news was shared of discussion she had with Board president and
Property & Finance chair. Both
gentlemen agreed for the need to address
cyber/charter funding formulas, with emphasis on accountability for
cyber/charter schools. We thank those
three board members for agreeing to meet to discuss this critical matter and look forward to hearing more.
More encouraging news on cyber/charter funding
reform:
This Monday, June 4
at 11 AM, Rep. Mike Fleck (R-Huntingdon/Blair/Mifflin) will host a news
conference to announce the introduction of HB 2364, legislation supported by PSBA that ensures greater taxpayer
protection and accountability of charter and cyber charter schools in
Pennsylvania. Those who cannot attend
can view the event through live web streaming at RepFleck.com.
(See http://capwiz.com/psba/issues/alert/?alertid=61400476&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id] for highlights of bill, such as removing the “double dip” for pension costs, funding for special education students set at the actual cost of service based on a year-end audit, year-end audit and reconciliation processes to ensure charter schools are being paid for actual cost of providing educational services to students and making all audits public information.)
Legislation
supported by PSBA? Odd there was no
mention of it in the legislative report, but maybe next time.
Public comment:
-Discouragement expressed that no Board or administration
member attended erection of Rustin lights, along with suggestion to Outreach Liaison
to include story of volunteer commitment to this project in next board
newsletter.
-Discouragement expressed over Board’s lack of transparency in
declining the Keystone to Opportunity grant.
-Question of why district installed automatic vs. regular flushing
toilets, turf vs. sod, and fence spanning entire roadway vs. partial fence in
past building projects – a respectful call to ‘dig deeper’ in district
budget and commendation for the one vote against the 2012/13 budget.
- Speaker stated he was in attendance at church service on
weekend where a letter was read, publicly to the congregation, by a Board member. The letter expressed the need to contact legislators in support of proposed legislation expanding the EITC program (Educational Improvement Tax
Credit, see below for a refresher) and creating a school voucher program. Speaker continues,
reading excerpts from PA Constitution (Article 3, Sections 15, 29) concerning the
prohibition of public funds being used for sectarian schools, making the argument that
vouchers/”opportunity scholarships” are unconstitutional.
-Final speaker of the evening questions why the Board is not
informing public about the impact of expanding the EITC program, stating that such a move will
cost the district millions of dollars.
No comments on any of the public comment from Board, other than Board president asking for an end
to the applause given to some speakers.
On the letter read at church - apparently
our Board “legislative liaison” also serves in that capacity at her parish,
which in itself is not an issue as long as she is not identifying herself as a
WCASD Board member while lobbying. In securing
a copy of the letter, it was obviously written
by someone who passionately shares the belief of many sectarian lobbying
organizations: vouchers and an expanded
EITC program will help students in “failing schools”. One hopes and trusts that a prayer followed the political
lobbying from the pulpit, for the students, teachers and families struggling
to survive in communities with such “failing schools”. And as to the last comment requesting more information
on EITC from the board? We did have an
unofficial, “second-hand” report via the disclosure of the letter read
at church, and remain confident we will hear more “official” reports on EITC in upcoming board legislative reports.
According to WCASD Policy
BBC-E, the Board Legislative
Liaison is “the District representative on the Legislative Committee of the
Pennsylvania School Boards Association. The individual reports prospective
legislation to the Board and makes the concerns of the Board known to the
Association and to our elected representatives in Harrisburg.”
One person holds this title, with the assumption that the roles of “ legislative
liaison” and PSBA representative would rarely conflict, since PSBA promotes legislation they
believe will strengthen the public education system. However, this month, we
did not hear from anyone on the WCASD Board about prospective PSBA supported
charter/cyber reform legislation, but did hear, in detail, about property
tax reform legislation that PSBA does not support. Thus, it can happen that these roles, held by one person, can exist in conflict. And what happens then is certainly something to think about.
In such
cases where the Board legislative liaison is not in agreement with PSBA
sanctioned legislation, does that individual still have an obligation to inform the community of such legislation
and its impact on our district? Further, does that individual have an obligation to advocate on behalf of our district for PSBA sanctioned legislation that will benefit our school district, even if that individual does not support the legislation?
Remember last fall’s Senate Bill 1, the
“Opportunity Scholarship and Educational Improvement Tax Credit Act” http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/BI/SFN/2011/0/SB0001P1711.pdf
"The lack of definitive evidence on who receives scholarships under
Pennsylvania's EITC program is consistent with the overall lack of
accountability in the program, which has now cost Pennsylvania taxpayers more
than a third of a billion dollars".
Recent and much-talked about
NY Times article on how “opportunity scholarships” help “failing schools”, PA
cited a few times: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/education/scholarship-funds-meant-for-needy-benefit-private-schools.html?pagewanted=7&_r=2&hp
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