T/E School Board Votes Monday on $114M Budget

The Tredyffrin-Easttown School Board is scheduled to vote Monday night on a $114M budget that could ulitmately include demoting some teachers with PhD's in order to save money.

The vote Monday night is one in a series of votes needed to finalize a district budget before a state-mandated June 30 budget deadline for all 500 school districts in the state.

Board looks at austerity options

The proposal to demote many teachers with PhD's (there is no list of specific teachers that would be affected at this point) is just one of a series of austerity measures being considered by the board. It was the subject of hours of public comment at a hearing on April 24.

In an effort to close what at what point was a projected $6M budget gap the board has already accepted several cost reducing strategies that range that including cutting $300,000 from the original 2012-2013 school year budget proposal to reducing the hourly rate for teachers in the summer literacy and English as a second language programs, to changing bulbs and fugures of outside building lights to save $10,000 in energy costs.

Members of the Tredyffrin Easttown Education Association agreed to a volunteer pay freeze during the current 2011-201 school year but the TEEA contract is up at the end of June and the board is looking for ways to hold the line on spending. Teacher salaries and benefits are by far the biggest chunk of the budget and full time teacher earn the most money as calculated by a salary table based on years of service and a teacher's level of education.

To bring in more money the for most middle and high school students who participate in a sport or activity (there are exceptions for students who qualify for government purchased schol lunches and for a handful of activities and sports clubs that are staffed by volunteers and parents).

Click on the pdf's for the complete TESD proposed budget in its current configuration.

Monday's Vote Details

The school board meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the district's administration offices at 940 West Valley Road, suite 1700 in Wayne, Tredyffrin Township. The board must vote on a preliminary budget in order to allow for 30 days of public comments and feedback before a final budget approval vote.

Other Factors Still Unresolved

In the meantime, the state legislature is considering measures to restore some of the reductions to school districts included in Governor Corbett's budget proposal.For his part, Corbett says his education budget already actually increases in spending but it does correct for about $1 Billion in money that was a one time federal grant to the state as part of the Obama stimulus. During his budget address Corbett blamed former Governor Ed Rendell and the state legislature for using that one-time grant to fund permanent education programs.

While that may offer some relief, local school boards must proceed with what they know at the moment, and that's what the TE School Board will vote on Monday night. Whatever is approved at Monday night's meeting could be ammended before the final budget is approved in June. (That vote is currently scheduled for June 14).