North Hills Won't Hike Taxes, Won't Fill Vacancies

ROSS TOWNSHIP, PA - North Hills School District is prepared to adopt an $83.7 million budget that holds the line on taxes and doesn't cut any programs or curriculum. But because of the financial uncertainty caused by the coronavirus outbreak, the district isn't filling any vacancies and likely will increase the size of several classes.

School directors adopted the proposed budget Thursday via a Zoom meeting. The final 2020-21 spending plan is slated to be approved on June 11.

“Due to the extreme financial difficulties faced by many at this time because of COVID-19 we are supporting a budget without a tax increase,” board president Allison Mathis said in a district release. “The reality is we are forced to make these decisions with limited information about
what next year looks like. However, we are committed to doing the best we can for the entire North Hills community, for our schools and for the residents of West View and Ross Township.”

Here's what the district plans for the coming year:

• A temporary, one-year override of the school board’s class size policy that will allow class sizes in certain K-3 classrooms to increase by two students. Based on current enrollment, that would impact two classrooms with the potential to impact up to eight. There will be 97 K-5 classrooms across the district next year, so the elementary class impact is less than 10 percent.

• Elementary assistant principal Jessica Sapsara will be relocated to North Hills Middle School. She will replace Mary Grimm, who is returning to the classroom as a sixth grade teacher in a decision was made prior to the COVID-19 crisis. The district will not be hiring a second assistant principal for the middle school as it had hoped, and Sapsara will not be replaced at the elementary level next year.

• The district will not be hiring another school social worker or psychologist as planned.

• The district has two school nurses retiring this school year. Only one of those nurses will be replaced.

• The district will expand its 1:1 iPad initiative Project Connect to include all students in grades K-12 next school year. Over the summer, the district’s technology team will replace its entire fleet of iPads in a move to ensure all students have access to a device if the district should need to take on some form of virtual instruction next year. It will also eliminate the passing of germs when students share classroom devices.

“This does not mean we know we are going to have to have virtual learning next year, but it would be irresponsible to not plan for that possibility,” Mathis said. “We do not know what next year is going to look like, but we need to be prepared to be adaptive and responsive.”

• All water fountains in district buildings and at Martorelli Stadium will be replaced with water bottle refill stations as part of an ongoing initiative across all facilities and operations to improve health, hygiene and safety, and reduce the spread of germs.