Spring-Ford schools to host budget town hall Feb. 28

Spring-Ford Area School District community members are being invited to attend a Town Hall meeting at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 28, in the auditorium of the 9th Grade Center to learn about the district's $10.4 million budgetary shortfall and the efforts being made to balance the budget.

"We are hoping residents will come out to hear about the numerous financial challenges we face this year so that we can explain the dire straits that many Pennsylvania school districts are in due to the economy, real estate assessment appeals, Act 1, the pension crisis and other factors," said Joseph Ciresi, president of the school board, in a statement released by the school district.

"It is important for people to understand why we are in the situation we are in, and the difficult decisions that we will have to make as we continue to develop our budget," Ciresi said.

The school district's business office is projecting that a 7.6 percent tax hike will be necessary to close the gap between expenditures and revenues.  Under Pennsylvania Act 1 of 2006, property taxes can only be raised by 1.4% for the 2011-12 budget year, but the school district can apply for a variety of exemptions that allow it to boost that number.

Even with the proposed increase, the district will still need to cut more than $4 million from the budget.

The district said the Town Hall meeting will allow residents to learn about the many factors contributing to the shortfall and the district's efforts so far to reduce costs and generate additional revenue. In addition, residents will be invited to share their thoughts on what should or should not be cut from the budget.  Residents may speak publicly during the meeting or by submitting their comments in writing. Those who speak will be asked to limit their comments to two minutes. Written comments may be read aloud at the meeting, or kept by school board members for further review.

The unabridged preliminary budget has not yet been published by the district, but a Powerpoint presentation and other summary documents can be found on the web page of the school district's business department.

"The factors contributing to our financial woes are not going to go away anytime soon. Addressing these problems without significantly impacting our educational program is becoming increasingly difficult," Ciresi said.

"The school board needs to know what the community values most so that as we look to balance the budget, we are doing so with our stakeholders' interests in mind," Ciresi said.

The school board will be voting on a proposed preliminary budget at tonight's work session. Final budget adoption will take place in June.

Portions of this story were based on a press release by the Spring-Ford Area School District.