Education's+future+caught+in+web+of+finances

=By Rossilynne Skena= =//Published by the VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH//= =//8/28/11//= = = = = = = =When local superintendents gaze ahead to the 2012-13 budget cycle, state revenue figures are blurry.= =Even though those numbers won't come into focus for months, some districts are steeling themselves now to help weather predicted cuts.= =Jim Budzilek, superintendent at Leechburg Area School District, calls himself a positive person. But when it comes to state funding, he says he must be a realist.= ="I think public education right now is under attack," he said. "All the school districts in the Alle-Kiski Valley have done a very good job in maximizing their resources."= =To help save money now, the district monitored air conditioning at school buildings over the summer and will roll out a plan to make lighting more energy efficient.= =Leechburg also will "virtualize" its computers, meaning it will run three monitors off one computer. Virtualizing could save the district $25,000, Budzilek said.= =New Kensington-Arnold School District is expected to have a reserve fund of less than $1 million at the end of theThe district used $1.8 million of its reserve to fund this year's budget.= =That means the reserve will not cover the expected 2012-13 deficit.= ="The problem is we still have a deficit," Superintendent George Batterson said. "That means we're still overspending our revenue. That's ridiculous. That's a problem. That's going to draw on what little we have left (in reserve). Your budget usually goes up by about a million dollars a year. It's not a very bright future."= =An advisory committee is studying the possibility of consolidating schools. Batterson said if the idea of creating a grade 7-12 school complex and closing two of the elementary schools works out, the district could shave at least $500,000 from the budget in personnel, utility and other costs. If they then are able to sell or lease those vacant buildings, even more money could be raised.= =Batterson said the committee is expected to make its recommendations to the school board in October.= =Closing one or two elementaries could happen as soon as September 2012.= ="The districts are cutting what they can cut in 2011-12," New Kensington-Arnold Business Manager Jeff McVey said. "You're going to have a lot of school districts in trouble in 2012-13. We've got to hope for increased funding."= =For now, Batterson said, the district is lobbying local legislators to encourage an increase in aid.= ="We're trying to get people to advocate for us in Harrisburg to increase our aid," Batterson said. "This is a pretty scary situation because of the national economy."= =Batterson may find an ally in House Minority Leader Frank Dermody, D-Oakmont.= ="To continue to keep cutting education doesn't make much sense to me," Dermody said.= =School districts have cut significantly over the past year and that inflicts pain on taxpayers, especially senior citizens, he said.= =State revenues of $750 million could have been used to minimize education cuts, he said.= ="The most important thing we do in Harrisburg with our budget is educate children," Dermody said.= =Shannon Wagner, superintendent of Burrell School District, wrote in an e-mail that she expects to go through the budget process again with similar outside constraints.= =Her district has a few retirements on the horizon, which she believes will help in the face of static budget amounts or cuts.= =State Rep. Eli Evankovich, R-Murrysville, lauded Burrell School District for its teachers, support staff and administrators taking a pay freeze.= ="I thought that was a fantastic step," Evankovich said. "I thought it showed that everyone was committed to doing the right thing to make the budget work for the school district and the community."= =Evankovich said this year's state education subsidy was the largest the state has ever doled out. In 2011-12, Pennsylvania will spend about $9.6 billion on K-12 education.= =He encourages taxpayers to give specific suggestions of where the state should cut money, rather than simply asserting that more money should have been spent on education.= =Everybody recognizes that the state needs to do more with each tax dollar, said Rep. Mike Turzai, House Republican leader.= ="We kept pace with state spending on public education, but nobody can count on federal stimulus money," said Turzai, of Bradford Woods. "It's not coming back."= =The state supports 500 school districts, some small, Dermody noted.= =Dermody said he's willing to look at school district consolidation so long as it can be done in a responsible way.= ="Ideally, you don't like to force those things," he said. "Maybe put some incentives in there so local school districts come together and do it themselves."= =Turzai and Evankovich said they'd support consolidation as long as it comes from the local level.= ="If school districts think that they can do better by combining services, I think that's a good thing," Turzai said. "But it needs to be voluntary."= =The state Department of Education supports districts merging or simply joining up for purchasing or cost savings.= ="As long as it doesn't negatively impact the educational program for students," said Education Department spokesman Tim Eller, "the department would view that favorably."= =Rossilynne Skena can be reached at rskena@tribweb.com. Staff writer Liz Hayes contributed to this report.= = Read more: [|Education's future caught in web of finances - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = = = =News= =home=