Schools

School District Faces $2 Million Budget Gap, Considers Eliminating 15 Teacher Positions

Tax increase and educational program cuts also on the table for consideration.

Pine-Richland School District faces a $2 million budget gap and is considering eliminating 15 full-time teacher positions, raising taxes and cutting educational programs.

The district's school board voted unanimously this week to agree to a plan outlined by Superintendent Dr. Mary Bucci to change or curtail programs and, in turn, reduce the number of teachers and professional staff.

That vote enables the district to send the plan to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for approval, which is required before the district can implement changes that might result in cutting professional staff, according to a memo from Bucci.

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Treasurer Dennis Sundo explained that the vote does not mean the board will carry out Bucci's plan.

"The intention ... is to leave the finance committee as many options as possible. Our work is starting now," said Sundo, who chairs the finance committee. "The gap is real. The gap is $2 million."

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The finance committee will discuss the budget at 6 p.m. on May 16 at the administration building at 702 Warrendale Road, Gibsonia, which is directly behind Pine-Richland High School. The meeting is open to the public.

If the district cuts the 15 teaching positions, it also might suspend or furlough an undetermined amount of professional employees, Bucci's letter outlining the plan states.

In addition, contracts of certain temporary professional employees might not be renewed, according to the plan.

The number of employees affected depends "on staff realignment rights under Section 1125.1 of the School Code and the collective bargaining agreement between the district and the Pine-Richland Education Association, as well as the number of positions vacated due to retirement or resignation that could potentially be eliminated by reassigning existing staff," Bucci wrote in the letter.

Bucci wrote that the district "can more effectively and efficiently deliver required curriculum ... through the elimination or consolidation of programs and corresponding staffing reductions ..."

The changes involve the following:

  • reducing health and physical education instruction time throughout the district;
  • reducing or cutting music, art, business and world language instruction at Eden Hall Upper Elementary;
  • cutting the child development program at Pine-Richland High School because it also is offered at A.W. Beattie Career/Vocational School;
  • eliminating beginner piano and music theory at the high school;

Click here to see Bucci's memo to the school board that details the plan. 

In a budget summary posted on the district's website, the budget looks like this:

  • Budget gap = $1,982,940
  • Use of fund balance for capital projects plan = $472, 619
  • Additional tax revenue from increase to adjusted index = $830,710
  • Proposed curtailment of programs = $873,757
  • Assigned fund balance for 2013-14 or class-size reduction = $194,146 

In a complex process that involves getting approvals from the Pennsylvania Department of Education through various steps of the budgeting process, the school district passed a preliminary budget in January that factored in a 0.95-mill increase in the real estate tax rate.

“This is very preliminary,” Bucci said in January. “What this does is allow us to apply for exceptions to the (state) index” to allow an increase beyond Pine-Richland's 2 percent limit.

Currently, the tax rate is 21.9084 mills; the proposed rate is 22.8584 mills, an increase of 4.34 percent.

The school board did not raise taxes last year.

The Pine-Richland School Board will start deliberating what to do with the budget at its May 16 finance committee meeting. Here is the schedule for budget deliberations and votes. All meetings are held at the school district administration building at 702 Warrendale Road, Gibsonia.

  • May 21, 2012 - Adoption of Proposed Final Budget at 7:30 p.m. 
  • May 29, 2012 - PR Finance Committee Meeting at 6 p.m. 
  • June 5, 2012- Deadline to Post Proposed Final Budget for Public Review
  • June 25, 2012 - Adoption of Tax Rates & Final Budget at 7:30 p.m.

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Thanks. Cindy

It's no surprise that Dr Bucci feels that the school district has failed at Eden Hall. The great potential is there in the teachers and students. I feel it is time for a change at the top to provide better leadership and vision. In essence my child's three years could have been educationally better. This was easy to see as a parent as the schedule has changed every year providing a lack of consistency. J


When I read "physical," I became frightened as I thought it may hurt the current state of sports at Pine-Richland. Fortunately, reading on, I saw it was for 'education' and realized it would have no influence on any children. To anyone else who was scared by this when reading the article, I recommend reading this article: . It reaffirms that the school has its brains where they should be: sports.

In fact, I propose that the school district cut all education from the curriculum to help finance the new athletic director. Doing so would free up a lot of the budgets, and since "It is super imperative to hire the best qualified applicant" as Dr. Bob Petcash says, we must have the funds free to hire this best applicant money can buy.

While some may not agree with this strategy, it should be on the table. After all, we must "leave the finance committee as many options as possible" as Sundo stated.

Fortunately in this dark time (dark thanks to the increasing number of windowless rooms. After all, adding this natural light will get in the students' eyes when they take standardized testing), we, the community, can take comfort knowing that the students will be less distracted by 'cultural' things like art, music, and language. For it is the duty of the school district to created students who are set entirely on their ideals.

Especially when those ideals are sports.


Well said, Truth Assassin. I couldn't agree more. The article you posted says it all. The priorities blow my mind.


Take a look at the budget changes in the 5 year chart from the PR website (http://pinerichland.schoolwires.net/20211071420496520/lib/20211071420496520/apr18packet.pdf). There are some interesting changes pre and post Mary Bucci, one of which is the dramatic increase in costs in Central Admin item 300 Purchased Prof and Tech services ($200K to $1.2 million). Six years ago elementary class sizes were about 18, now they are 25. I am sure the community would prefer more teachers to more administrators (also the reason for the dramatic increase in the cost of college). With the payments required for retirement fund jumping each year, PR Board had better take a hard look at costs and start reducing areas without hurting the kids or else we will be facing tax increases every year. Maybe reducing all the pre-pre-tests (e.g. Aimsweb) to predict PSSA performance to lower both costs and kids' stress? Maybe not re-doing all the curricula to match the ever-changing state tests and to experience every new educational fad especially without cost analyses or parent input (e.g reform-type enVisionMATH, whole-language -not phonics- Guided Reading, Stem Project Lead the Way)? Losing 15 teachers but adding a Global Studies Department? Parents need to wake up!!


Wow- I am really surprised that none of you have talked about the raping of our children's education by the pension system. You should all be calling your legislators and rallying the elected school board to do the same. Take a look at the crime of the century that will take place in the next five years by the Union and it's pension- contribution rates to go up to 25%! That is the real injustice- that is what will destroy children's education in this district and every other school district in PA. There is no denying it. It will force districts to cut more and more or increase taxes - there is no way out unless every tax paying citizen and parent demands change in the pension system.


 

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