Wissahickon Schools Look to Cut $493,000 Out of Budget

A small group of interested parents gathered recently as the School Board continued to work on cutting back the 2011-2012 budget.

The administration has proposed nearly $1 million in cuts from the 2010-2011 budget and is looking for efficiencies in programs and in all aspects of the school’s operation.

The cost-cutting measures recently proposed to the school board for the 2011-2012 school year are expected to save $493,000 and include changes in the operation of the school district for efficiency.

The yearly events calendar that the school district prints and mails to all district residents will be discontinued in favor of a new web site with its own events calendar. According to the administration, this change will save the district $10,000. Residents will still be able to call the administration building to request a printed calendar.

The events calendar is not the first paper publication to be cut in recent years. The district now distributes an annual report to residents rather than a quarterly newsletter that was published previously. Updated news and events for the district can be found on its web site.

The district is also seeking to hire two full-time occupational therapists and one full-time physical therapist. Currently, the district uses an outside agency to provide these services. According to the district, the need for these services has increased, as have the outsourcing costs. The administration believes that hiring full-time employees will cut these costs by $100,000 while enabling the district to handle the increased service demands.

“I don’t want to see a cut in services for the kids who need it,” said school board member Dawn Roberts.

The therapists will provide the federally mandated services to children in grades K-12. 

Wissahickon has seen an increased need due to its early intervention program which serves the community's students pre-school students, aged 3 to 5 years. The need for the service is annually evaluated.

Before bringing this recommendation to the board, the administration said it looked at other external service providers as well as theMontgomery County Intermediate Unit. It then decided that bringing the services in-house would be the most cost-efficient route.

According to the administration, another cost-cutting strategy would entail reducing the number of pre-purchased slots at the Lakeside School from 15 to 13.  Superintendent Judith Clark explained that there are multiple reasons students are placed at Lakeside, which provides both regular and special education services. Some students are school-phobic or have mental health issues, while other students have recently been incarcerated. Reducing the number of pre-purchased slots by two would save the school district $36,000, but those savings could be lost and additional expenses incurred if the district is later required to accommodate additional alternative education students without pre-purchasing the slots.

Eliminating the busing for after-school activities was also discussed. The district had previously reduced the number of after-school activity buses from two to one. The board requested that the administration determine how many students are currently using the activity bus. There was also discussion on raising the student activity fee from $50 or, alternatively, raising it only for students who are involved in a greater number of extracurricular activities.

The board agreed to scuttle a cost-cutting measure that would have discontinued the district's practice of paying for the AP and PSAT exams. Currently, if a student takes an Advanced Placement (AP) class, it is a requirement that they take the AP test for that subject. This is the third year that the district has implemented this requirement. AP testing in the high school is up 50 percent, from 350 students three years ago to 700 last year.

“I’m very uncomfortable eliminating this [payment for AP tests],” said Young Park, school board president.

“It’s against our board goals,” said board member Janice Singer.

“We should level the playing field,” regardless of whether the district is required to pay for the tests, Roberts said.

Other cost-cutting concepts included re-evaluating contracts with outside service providers and eliminating contracts with outside providers that are no longer necessary.

The next School Board meeting is April 25 at 7:30 p.m. at the , 601 Knight Rd in Ambler.