It's hard to believe that the 2018-2019 school year is almost complete! We still have some work to do though, before the summer break begins. I'm Tina Stoll, President of the North Penn School District (NPSD) Board of School Directors and I'd like to update you on what the board has been working on.

The North Penn School Board (NPSB) has been working diligently with the administration on finalizing the 2019-2020 school year budget. The proposed final budget is available for public inspection and will be presented for adoption at the June 20 Action Meeting.

Former Vice President Joe Biden once said,  "show me your budget and I'll show you your priorities." Some of our priorities have been to provide the funds for Full-Day Kindergarten, which we are all really excited to see begin this September. We've budgeted funds for additional behavioral and mental health supports, as well as other safety initiatives, such as updating our attendance and visitor management systems. We are updating our bus fleet with the purchase of 10 new propane buses. Some of the safety initiatives and the propane buses are being paid for with grant money that the district has received.  We are extremely grateful  to the administration for their hard work in seeking out and applying for these grants!

We are adding funds to our Capital budget and working towards a 10-year Capital Improvement plan so we can better maintain our facilities in a timely and cost-effective manner.  One of the projects recently approved by our Facilities and Operations Committee is during the summer break, to replace the carpeting in the modular units at Pennbrook Middle School with vinyl flooring. We hope this will be a temporary fix until we can replace the modulars altogether.

We've also expanded our property tax rebate program for eligible senior citizens, which was introduced last year, from the 25% to 30% and is now eligible for both renters and homeowners. It is important to the board and the administration that our most financially vulnerable citizens know about the program so they are able to take advantage of it. To that end, several board members have gone out into the community this past year to host informational sessions regarding this opportunity. NPSD is one of three districts out of the 500 in the state of PA that offers this program.

And while throughout the entire budgeting process, we have made a conscious effort to balance the needs of our students and staff with financial burden placed on our taxpayers, the fact of the matter is that there are several factors not within our control that are causing financial strain on school districts in the state. The pressure has been  on local school boards to either raise taxes or cut programs and NPSD has been no exception. Most people are aware of the retirement funding requirements, however the increase in Special Education and Charter School costs has also been extraordinary.

NPSD does not have a brick and mortar charter school located within district boundaries but it does have students that attend cyber charter schools and a nearby brick and mortar charter school at an annual expense of more than $2 million.

Special education costs are about 19.63% of operating costs. And while the district has been extremely diligent in controlling these expenses, they have still increased from year to year.

In 1975, when the federal government passed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Congress committed to paying 40% of the cost.  It has never once fulfilled that commitment - in fact, the highest funding amount achieved was 20% and currently, it is at 16%.  State funding has also failed to keep pace with the increases in costs, thus pushing the burden down to local districts.

My fellow NPSB directors and I feel that the way public education is funded could be vastly improved so we are committed to advocating with our local legislators in Harrisburg on a regular basis.  We have been meeting with them to express our concerns and they are working hard in Harrisburg to make sure our voices are heard. If you would like to contact your local legislator to advocate for fair funding of public education, here is a list of the legislators that represent the NPSD area. Representative Liz Hanbidge,  Representative Steve Malagari, Representative Todd Stephens, Senator Maria Collett and Senator Bob Mensch.