NEW BETHLEHEM, Pa. by: John Gerow (RVO) – Redbank Valley School Directors got their first in-depth look at the proposed budget for Fiscal (School) Year 2019 – 2020 at a lengthy special meeting Tuesday evening, March 19. Although the Board had approved a “preliminary” budget earlier for Pennsylvania Department of Education deadlines, this was the first look at actual spending projections from the new Superintendent, Dr. John Mastillo. Even with just a few months behind the wheel, Dr. Mastillo predicts a significant decrease in spending for the ‘19 – ’20 school year. Working from previous spending and 2017 – 2018 Budget Projections, Dr. Mastillo, and Business Manager Cheryl Motter are projecting a $280,000 increase in revenue and $380,000 decrease in spending in ’19 – ’20.

 According to Dr. Mastillo, building this budget has been hampered by poor accounting and off-budget spending in previous years. While none of the accounting issues were intentional, posting items improperly in the account books, makes it difficult to correctly analyze spending and to plan future spending. The Superintendent and the Business Manager reported that they have been extremely diligent in properly identifying spending categories and believe that their projections for 2019 – 2020 are as accurate as they can make them.

The first preliminary budget that the Board adopted in January was done to enable the District to apply for exemptions from the Pennsylvania Department of Education rules on raising local school taxes. If the Department of Education granted the exemptions, the District could raise taxes by more than the 3.4% Index. The preliminary budget projected a loss of nearly $825,000 for the 2019 – 2020 school year. The budget presented at Tuesday evening’s work session only projects a $630,000 deficit, suggesting that there are significant cost savings to be captured by careful planning and spending.

It is interesting to note that the Department of Education denied Redbank Valley School District’s request for tax increase exemption because of savings that the District will be gaining by planned changes in the Special Education program. Bringing more of the District’s students back from the IU6 will result in significant savings.

Points of Interest:

– Significant over budget spending in Fiscal Years 2016 -2017 and 2017 – 2018
– 2019 – 2020 Labor Expense projected lower even with 2.9% wage increase in contract
– Special Education costs could be noticeably lower than currently budgeted
– 2019 – 2020 budget does not include a school tax increase
– Projected spending to be $380,000 less than 2018 – 2019

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ABOUT:
Redbank Valley School District provides education services for the 165 square mile area of New Bethlehem and Hawthorn boroughs, and the townships of Mahoning, Madison, Porter, and Redbank of both Clarion and Armstrong counties.

MEETINGS:
The Redbank Valley School Board meetings the first Monday of every month at 7pm at the High School Library.

CONTACT:
For more information about the Redbank Valley School District, please call 814.275.2426 or visit RedbankValley.org/pg/biz/redbank-valley-school-district