Schools

Easton School Budget Deficit Rises

$10 million gap is now closer to $14 million, thanks to loss in state aid.

A cut in state funding means the is looking at an even larger deficit in its $141 million budget than officials once thought.

The district will lose more than $3.4 million in state revenue for the 2011/2012 budget year, Easton Area Business Manager Marie Guidry said Thursday night.

"We had a budget gap of $10 million. Now it’s not 10 million dollars," but closer to $14 million, she said. 

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Guidry said there's a "perfect storm" of uncertainty at work here: the state budget won't be finalized until at least the end of June, federal funding hasn't come through, and salaries, benefits and fuel costs are still up in the air.

"Stay tuned, because we really don't know what we have at this point," Guidry said.

Find out what's happening in Eastonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In light of the news about the state's education cuts, district administrators have volunteered for a salary freeze, Superintendent Susan McGinley said.

The freeze would apply to school principals and other administrators, but only amounts to about $65,000  -- or less than 1 %  -- of the $14 million the district needs to cut out of the budget.

"We are looking everywhere for budget cuts," Guidry said.

The district's largest expenditure is in salaries and benefits, which make up $98.3 million -- nearly 70 percent -- of the budget, followed by debt service at $17 million.

Guidry said the district -- which is self-insured -- has seen the cost of its medical claims rise by more than $3 million since the 2006/2007 school year.

"We are trying to do a lot with wellness," in order to keep costs down, she said. "Wellness is important."

At Thursday's meeting, the board heard from its directors of maintenance and transportation, both of whom pledged to try to make do with what they have in the coming year.

Ron Heckman, the transportation director, told the board he hopes to purchase some new buses this year, noting that some of the ones in his fleet are 14 years old.

The board also heard from two men who hope to join their ranks in this year's elections: Ronnie DelBacco and Frank Pintabone, both of whom offered suggestions for cutting costs.

DelBacco said the district should do its own search for its new COO rather than . He also suggested reviewing how it handles transportation for after-school programs, as well as changes to the school meal programs.

Pintabone also questioned the need for a "food court"-like cafeteria set up, but said it would be a mistake to remove any sort of hot lunch program from the menu, arguing that for some students, that might be the only hot meal they get.

The board meets again on April 13 for a marathon budget meeting during the day, and will return that evening to adopt the budget.


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