Central Bucks School Board Changes Meeting Location

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The Central Bucks School Board has announced that it is moving Wednesday night's meeting from the district offices to the auditorium at Central Bucks West High School, 375 West Court Street.

Due to the Juneteenth federal holiday on Thursday, the meeting has been moved to Wednesday evening, June 18, beginning at 7 p.m.

At the meeting, the school board has a full agenda to consider, including passage of a final budget for 2025-26. Click here to review the agenda.

The proposed final budget includes a 5.9 percent tax increase that will boost the average school tax bill by $328 on a district home with a full market value of about $635,000.

The district applied for and received an exception from the state to fund rising special education
costs. The exception allowed the district to exceed this year's Act One Index, which limits tax increases to four percent without a public referendum.

"The district is facing major cost drivers," said substitute superintendent Dr. Charles Malone, in May.
Those cost drivers, he said, include the district's contractual obligations, a six percent net increase in
medical and prescription benefit costs, an increase in the district's PSERS contribution (the district's obligation to the retirement system), a six percent increase for outside special education purposes,
inflationary increases in supplies and services, and full-day kindergarten purchases outside of the assigned fund balance.

According to Malone, there were no tax increases in the district from 2015 to 2021, which the district's COO Tara Houser has blamed partially on the larger tax increases being felt today.

"The eight years of no tax increases and delayed maintenance on buildings has now come home to
roost," Houser said earlier this year. "It's gonna get a little hairy."

According to Malone, even with the proposed tax increase, Central Bucks continues to maintain "one of the lowest tax rates in Bucks County, ranking fourth lowest of the county's districts" while "striving to offer an exceptional educational experience."