Council Rock Approves Preliminary Budget For Next School Year

NEWTOWN, PA — The Council Rock School Board has approved a preliminary general fund budget for the school district for the upcoming 2021-2022 school year.

Bill Stone, director of business administration, said the district is anticipating revenues of around $249.2 million and expenditures of $259.5 million, leaving a $10.3 million dollar budget deficit for next year.

Superintendent Robert Fraser emphasized that the the preliminary budget is more of a rough draft than a final spending plan, as the school board can make revisions as needed before approval of the final budget in June.

"This is very, very early in the process, based on nothing more than broad strokes and assumptions at this point," Fraser said.

The preliminary budget assumes a 3 percent increase in the real estate tax, which makes up about 80 percent of the district's total local revenue.

"Overall our revenues are projected to be mostly flat when compared to the prior year other than that real estate tax," Stone said. "The majority of the increases in the expenditure budget are due to contractual obligations as well as mandated expenditures from the state and federal government."

The school district may be getting help from Harrisburg. In response to the financial hardships brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Tom Wolf recently proposed increasing Basic Education Funding by more than 21 percent in the coming fiscal year. That would result in more than $1.3 billion being distributed through the state's fair funding formula, which helps school districts with the greatest needs.

The governor's proposal also includes raising the minimum teacher salary for the first time in 30 years, from $18,500 to $45,000, which he said would address a growing teacher shortage.

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