'Survival' Now Mode for Easton Area School District

It's the game plan for the Easton Area School District right now.

And with a vote Tuesday on whether to once again raise taxes and reduce staff, school officials revealed what that game plan is.

"Survival."

"What we're looking at is surviving," Business Administrator Michael Simonetta stated to school board members at Tuesday's work session. "Surviving the hand we're being dealt right now."

Simonetta tried to explain to school board members that there really isn't any wiggle room to avoid another tax hike and more staffing cuts.

The board is expected to choose among three tax hike/staff cut options when it votes on its 2013-2014 preliminary budget at next Tuesday's school board meeting.

Simonetta showed a few charts that sum up where the school district stands right now financially:

• A teachers contract signed in December 2007 still has two years to go.
• Teacher salaries make up 41 percent of the overall budget.
• There's 88 percent of fixed costs in the budget.
• Rising costs include $3.5 million for pensions and $400,000 for medical.

With those budget constraints, the school administration is recommending a main option for the preliminary budget that would include a 2.1 perecent tax hike and the elimination of 23 positions.

That proposal also calls for:

• Cutting extra pay/extra duty costs of $180,000 in half.
• Keeping late bus runs intact.
• Restructuring and reducing some professional services like tuition reimbursement.
• Redoing the elementary school technology program.
• Taking $500,000 from surplus account.

"This is very tough, a shame," School Board Member Pat Volcano said. "We're faced with a financial problem that needs to be corrected."