Music Lessons, Sports Likely To Remain For 2012-13 School Year, School Board Says

Elementary school music lessons, winter track and swim team will likely not be cut from Great Valley School District's 2012-2013 budget, the school board told residents at its regular meeting on March 19.

At the nearly four-hour meeting, superintendent Alan Lonoconus presented more details on proposed cuts for the upcoming school year, following recent feedback from board members, GVSD alumni and parents.

Several school board members indicated that rather than "death by a thousand cuts," they would like to consider the impact of bigger, bolder moves, like closing an elementary school or administrative reorganization. Lonoconus also said that the district will need to seriously consider how to increase its revenue in the upcoming year.

Music, Sports, Likely To Stay for 2012-13

Here's a quick look at decisions on some of the more controversial cuts proposed at the March 12 board meeting.

Elementary music lessons: Based on the input received in the past week from parents and alumni, the cutting of music lessons at the elementary school level is no longer being actively considered for the 2012-13 year, though Lonoconus warned that if no other alternatives are found, it could be put back on the table.

"Between all the emails and everything else, your voices were loud and clear. We understand your priorities on that, so we're going to work hard at trying to keep that in place as much as we can," Lonoconus said.

Winter track and swim team: School board president David Barratt told Patch after the meeting that these sports will be continued for 2012-13.

7th and 9th grade sports: These sports will also "more than likely" remain for the upcoming school year as well, Barratt said.

Changes in sports funding, if the sports are retained, will include raising extracurricular fees to at least $75. A parent survey will be sent out soon to determine the threshold to which parents are willing to "pay to play," in order to offset costs, Lonoconus said.

The cost for a child in the district to play a sport ranges from a little over $160 for someone in cross country to more than $1,100 for students on the wrestling team, Lonoconus said.

Some other districts do charge families the per-student cost for sports, and "We're not at that point yet," Lonoconus said. "But that's obviously always a consideration."

Extracurricular Funding

"We're looking at how to finance extracurriculars, as a whole, differently," Barratt explained.

The district is searching for creative solutions to funding, such as large-scale fundraising campaigns, naming opportunities or even solutions like funding the school musical with a commercial sponsor.

Psychologists And Social Work Cuts Still Possible

Cuts for school psychologists and social workers are still on the table, despite objections from several board members and district residents.

While board member Andrew Daga said he was "dubious" that the needs of the district could be met with a reduced psychology staff, board member Jenn Armstrong said the district's psychology staff had told her that they could stand to reduce their staff by one. Armstrong said they should take the psychology staff at their word and cut the position, if staff members feel they can handle the reduction.

Armstrong also noted that some members of counseling staff at the high school level fill the roll of career advisors. While career advisors are necessary for 11th- and 12th-grade students, Armstrong questioned whether the school should continue career counseling for 9th- and 10th-graders. Both she and, later in the meeting, several members of the public questioned the effectiveness of career counseling for younger students.

Members of the board also disagreed on whether the district should reduce social work staff, or if the district should employ social workers at all.

Armstrong and board member Ellen Behrle both said the reduction of social work staff would be a difficult one for them, whereas Barratt and board member Bruce Chambers both questioned whether the service should be one that is done in-house.

"I think this is not an education function," Chambers said. "It's not our job; we have the means to refer them appropriately. … We just can't afford this luxury."

At the board's next work session, Lonoconus will present a list of pros and cons for retaining social work positions at the high school. In regards to eliminating a psychologist position, Barratt said, "If we can live with one less person, that's the direction we need to head."

The Problem, In Short

Real estate tax is the biggest moneymaker for the school district, generally accounting for more than $60 million in revenue each year. Real estate tax revenues normally increase each year, but have decreased in the past three years. Were trends to continue, the district's reserve funds would be completely drained by 2015. (Click on the photo gallery above to view the district's "5-Year Financial Picture.)

A combination of the economy, sluggish new home markets in Great Valley, and an increase in assessment appeals—both residential and commercial—have led to the decrease. Last year's Wegmans and Target construction only netted $265,000 for the school district, district business manager Charles Linderman said.

Combined with district expenditures, the problems have "kind of led us to this perfect storm of budgeting," Linderman said.

A large part of that growing expenditures issue is increased payment to pensions. This year, the district will see a $3.4 million increase in salaries and benefits.

"We've been doing everything we can in the past few years to make this less painful, but now we're to the point where we're affecting staffing," Lonoconus said.

Other Issues

Other points of contention were the possible reduction of science aides, who help science teachers retain class time, and personal care aides, who are assigned to students by individualized education programs (IEPs). The impact of both possible reductions will be discussed at the next board meeting on April 9.

The impact of other, bigger moves, like closing an elementary school, will also be discussed at the next meeting.

Several community members also urged the board that they need to
increase taxes, even by 10 percent, if it means saving certain
well-loved programs.

"You need a tax increase, and you need to own up to it," one resident said.

Next meeting will include a 45-minute presentation on debt, which will
include possible refinancing options. But, Linderman cautioned,
refinancing is not going to be an end-all solution to the district's
budgetary concerns.

"It's not millions," Linderman said.

Leave a Reply