Great Valley Board Adopts $117M Budget, Calling For 2.5% Tax Hike

MALVERN —Great Valley School Board Monday night unanimously adopted a a $117.7 million budget for the 2022-2023 school year, calling for a 2.5% increase in taxes.
The district has 4,510 students and covers Charlestown, East Whiteland and Willistown townships, and the borough of Malvern. It has four elementary schools, one middle school and one high school.
The average house in the district is assessed at $260,584. The increase in taxes amounts to $146 for the average homeowner.
The budget includes seven new positions, including three elementary school teachers, a technology coach, two English as a second language teachers, and an autistic support teacher.
The cost for the new staff is $581,175.
According to a report from U.S. News, 5.4% of the students in the district are learning English as a second language.

Under the state’s Homestead law, Great Valley receives $1.2 million from the state’s gambling money.
The number of approved homesteads and farmsteads is 8,552. Each taxpayer in the program will receive a $150.99 tax credit from the state.

The budget includes some costs for constructing a new Fifth and Sixth Grade Center on the site of the former district office at 47 Church Road. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2024.

The new school is being constructed to reduce the population at each elementary school and the middle school, allowing the district to accommodate an additional 900 students in the next year.

Charles Peterson, director of business affairs, said the school board and administration have been working on the budget for nine months.

A summary of the budget is available here.