Transcript East Penn School District Who Are We?

East Penn School
District
Who Are We?
 8,022 students
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EHS
Eyer
LMMS
Alburtis
Jefferson
Lincoln
Macungie
Shoemaker
Wescosville
2,607
833
1,040
342
268
410
476
714
618
 Willow Lane
714
Who Are We?
 Approximately 1,000 employees
 720 Special Education students
 259 Speech & Language Special Education
students
 426 Gifted students
 Operating Budget of $120,804,396
 High performing
 High expectations
 Well-rounded (academics, arts, athletics)
Who Are We?
 126 students from East Penn are enrolled in cyber
charter schools
 164 students from East Penn are enrolled in bricks and
mortar charter schools
 108 children are home-schooled
 There has been a 280% growth in cyber charter
students in the last five years
 There has been a 713% growth in bricks and mortar
charter school students in the last five years
Curriculum Initiatives
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Project Based Learning
STEM
E-FOLIO
Digital Media
Digital Course Creation
Cyber Learning
SAS
Keystone Exams
Technology
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Mobile Computing/Personal Devices
Smart-boards/Overhead Projection Units
Wireless
Moodle/Google Docs
Parent Access
Infrastructure
24/7
Online Instruction and Blended Approach
Reduction: Student to computer ratio from 8 to
4 per student
Community Outreach
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Senior Citizen Advisory Committee
PAC
Chamber of Commerce/Rotary
Gold Card Access
District Facilities
Community Education Program
Students Giving Back
 Cops n’ Kids
 Develop Products for the Borough
 Musical Performances
 Good Causes (Autism, Cancer, Food-drives)
 Student Service Clubs
Did You Know?
 The 2010-11 operating budget is
$120,804,396
 The value of a mil is $1,650,000
 The value of the 1.4% Index
allowable increase is $1,047,000
Major Budget Categories
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59%
13%
9%
7%
5%
5%
2%
Salaries and Benefits
Debt Service
Other Educational Agencies
Pupil Transportation
Budgetary Reserve
Other Expenses
Utilities
Did You Know?
 Transportation costs are about $6,000,000
 Total Operations and Maintenance costs are
budgeted at about $11,110,000
 Debt Service payments are $15,531,295
 Cyber charter and regular cyber school tuition
payments are just over $3,000,000 (district
does get about 22% of that back a year later)
Staffing Information
 East Penn has 14.86 students per faculty member
while the state average is 13.2
 East Penn has 211.1 students per manager while the
state average is 163.4
 East Penn has higher faculty and manager per pupil
levels than the Suburban school district averages and
for districts with an Aid ratio of .4115 or less
 79.4% of East Penn’s professional staff have a
Master’s Degree or higher
Source: PSBA
Did You Know?
 2010-11 Budget Facts
 77.2% of revenues come from local sources
 22.0% of revenues come from the State
 0.7% come from the Federal Government
Local Revenue Sources
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Real Estate
Interim Real Estate
Public Utility Reality Tax
Earned Income Tax
Real Estate Transfer Tax
Delinquent Real Estate Tax
Interest on Investments
Expenditures Comparison
2008-2009
Total Expenditures Per ADM-Rank Order
Salisbury
42
$16,425.55
Southern Lehigh
68
$15,228.08
Catasauqua
94
$14,719.45
Northwestern
146
$13,794.80
Northern Lehigh
222
$12,848.18
Parkland
246
$12,643.61
East Penn
281
$12,287.79
Whitehall-Coplay
313
$12,082.83
Allentown City
445
$10,814.69
Source: PDE
2010-11 Milage
Rank Order
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Northern Lehigh
Northwestern Lehigh
Catasauqua
Allentown City
Salisbury
East Penn
Southern Lehigh
Whitehall-Coplay
Parkland
64.373
50.660
50.560
45.592
45.445
45.320
45.300
44.720
38.270
Did You Know About Our
Tax Parcels?
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Residential
Apartment
Agriculture
Vacant
Commercial
Industrial
Institutional
Governmental
83%
2%
2%
1%
8%
4%
0%
0%
Recent Act 1 History
 2008-2009
 2009-2010
 2010-2011
4.4% (District stayed at
index)
4.1% (District stayed under
at 3.9%)
3.9% (First time District
sought exceptions...
Qualified up to 5.1%-Final
budget in at 3.8%)
Exceptions
 Specific areas in which costs exceed the index
(1.4%)
 Ten (10) Areas
 Districts must complete calculations and
submit on forms developed by PDE
 PDE approves and sets the amount of the
exception
 Exceptions are legal and part of Act 1
 Go to PDE and type in Act 1 Exceptions to
learn more
Budget Calendar
 January 24th - Board votes to stay within index or not
 If the vote is negative, then the Board will vote on a
Preliminary Budget on February 14th
 February 21st - Preliminary Budget is submitted to PDE
 February 24th - Deadline for publishing intent to file for
exceptions
 March 3rd - Deadline to seek exceptions from PDE
 March 28th - First Draft of Proposed Final Budget is
submitted to the Board
 April 11th - Board Discussion of Proposed Budget
 May 9th - Vote on Proposed Final Budget
 June 13th - Vote on Final Budget
Fiscal Strategies
 Administration downsizing
 Curtailment of non-instructional
employee hours
 Energy consortiums/Lighting
 Willow Lane is a LEEDS school
 Boiler work
 Roofing work
Fiscal Strategies
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Refinancing Debt
Leasing LMES
Partnerships
Green Computing
Transportation
Re-bid Benefits/Employee Contributions
Sadly, arrested increases in department
budgets
 Introduce and implement our own cyber school
 Increase Access Billing
Debt Service Refinancing
 Over the past twelve (12) years, the
district has refinanced existing debt and
saved $7,981,000 in those transactions.
 The district saved $484,128.64 by
refinancing bond sale on January 24th,
2011.
Concerns
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Potential for rapid growth
Growth in special category students
Lagging revenues
Tax assessment appeals
Direction of State and Federal Funding
Unfunded mandates
Can’t happen in East Penn and a lack of
awareness that there are no simple solutions
 Misinformation
Christopher Borick –
Survey Results
 Muhlenberg College/Morning Call
Statewide Policy Poll
Education Finance Questions
February 2010
 Frequency Report
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Number of Interviews: 450 Adult Pennsylvanians
Margin of Error: +/- 5% at a 95% level of confidence.
Fielding Dates – February 8 – February 22, 2010
Method Of Interviewing: Telephone
“Many Pennsylvania school districts are facing significant budget
problems. In order to balance school district budgets please
indicate if you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat
oppose or strongly oppose the following policy options”
Survey Results
Strongly
Support
Somewhat
Support
Somewhat
Oppose
Strongly
Oppose
Not Sure
13%
21%
14%
49%
3%
Increase the size of classes
to reduce the number of
teachers that the school
district will need to employ.
4%
13%
13%
68%
2%
Reduce the range of course
offerings to reduce the
number of teachers that the
school district will need to
employ.
6%
16%
17%
56%
5%
Increase local property taxes
to provide school districts
with the financial resources
to maintain their current
curriculum and programs.
9%
20%
14%
55%
2%
18%
27%
15%
27%
13%
Require students to pay a fee
for extracurricular activities
such as sports and clubs.
School districts should be
consolidated.
Administrative Actions in
Budget Process
 Review and analyze each department budget
 Review personnel at all levels and in all labor
groups
 Calculate Retirement Differentials
 Review all revenue projections
 Meet with all governmental agencies to determine
potential for revenue
 Decipher signals from State and Federal sources
 Calculate Kindergarten enrollment
 Calculate Transportation needs
Administrative Actions
 Review all special needs programs
 Develop an internal list of potential cuts based
on the following:
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Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Strategic Plan
“Education is our core business”
Defining “needs as opposed to wants”
“Make do with” decisions
Future Budget
Communications
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Budget Newsletter (Electronic)
Blogs and Electronic Updates
Selected Online Videos
Press Releases (Emmaus Patch, East Penn
Press, Morning Call Blog)
 Board Meetings
 PAC
 Online survey (ideas on new revenues and
cost savings)
District Website
www.eastpennsd.org
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School Information
Dashboard
Annual Report
Budget Book (charts, statistics, accounts)
Senior Citizen Tax Relief
Board Policies/Meeting Minutes
News
Resources for Information
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AASA (www.aasa.org)
NSBA (www.nsba.org)
PSBA (www.psba.org)
PDE Website
Phi Delta Kappa (latest Gallup Poll)
Credo Report (Stanford University)
Diane Ravitch
Auditor General Wagner’s Report on Cyber
Charter Schools and Recommendations
 Federal Education Plans (Blueprint for Success
and Federal Technology Plan)
Research/Reports on
Issues
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Center for American Progress
Vouchers
School Choice
School Funding
Teacher Evaluation Systems/Models
EPSD Contact
 Nicole Bloise, Community Liaison
 Phone: 610-966-8335
 Located in the Administrative Offices –
800 Pine Street, Emmaus, PA 18049