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Dear North Penn Community,
It is that time of year again where the Board of Directors and the Administration work to create the budget for the upcoming school year. It is a lengthy, months-long process, but the community is encouraged to attend or view our finance meetings as we move forward in finalizing the budget for the 2023-2024 school year. These meetings are live-streamed and posted on the North Penn Television YouTube page to view at any time. The schedule can be found here.
Additionally, our Office of Business Administration has once again been awarded the Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials International for its 2022-2023 Budget Book. This is the eighth year in a row that North Penn has received this award, and it is a point of pride for the district. The award is given to districts whose budget presentations are clear, concise, and provide the public with a transparent view of the budgeting process and allocations.
I encourage you to read through the budget book because, as you may have seen in the news recently, the PA Auditor General Tim DeFoors issued a report on school districts and what he deemed to be excessive fund balances in their budgets. North Penn SD was included in his audit, and it is important to note that of the twelve districts included in the audit, every single district had “no non-compliance with laws or regulations”. North Penn only qualified for the audit due to the bonds that were issued for the renovation of Knapp Elementary.
Per our Board Policy 3620,
“Unassigned fund balance should not fall below two months of regular general fund operating expenditures.”
This policy was approved in 2011 when the effects of the recession were hitting school district budgets the hardest. In fact, that recession hit the PA state budget so hard, that the state simply ceased reimbursing school districts for their share of charter school expenses, because they could no longer afford it. The entire burden of this state mandated expense was then simply pushed down to school district property tax level.
And as it happens, this mandated expense has increased substantially over the years. It may literally be the ONE thing all SB directors in PA - rural, suburban, urban, small district or large- can all agree on and that is that we all want the state to reform how charters are funded. Over 450 out of 500 districts in PA have issued resolutions asking the state to do something to relieve this burden on school districts and property taxpayers but the state has yet to respond.
To be clear – we are not opposed to school choice, after all there has always been some form of school choice. We just don’t think the funding mechanism is fair or appropriate.
We also have a lengthy list of capital improvement projects that we need to fund including the major renovation of our high school. You can watch a video about this need here. The March Work Session meeting will be about the planning for this project, so please tune in for these meetings as well!
This board recognizes the burden that property tax can put on the most vulnerable, including senior citizens. The district and board have implemented an award-winning tax rebate program to help those in need. At the last action meeting, the board approved a 90% rebate for those who qualify. I encourage you to take a look at the program and help us get the word out to any community members who qualify.
February is also Black History Month, and my fellow NPSB Directors and I once again had the privilege of going to the African American Awareness Club’s (AAAC) Colors of Pride Assembly. This year’s theme was “The Black Diaspora”, which highlighted the global nature and impact of Black culture. The students put on a great show full of song and dance, with proceeds from the show supporting senior awards and scholarships. Another event coming up is the Black Oratorical Competition, this Thursday, February 23, from 6-8 at North Penn High School. I highly encourage you to attend! Every year we are so very impressed by our students - from elementary through high school - who are able to give this master class in public speaking.
Sincerely,
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