Forest City shares budget plans

BY CAITLIN HEANEY

Times-Shamrock Writer

Forest City Regional School District faces a budget deficit of at least $115,000 for the next school year under its preliminary budget presented at a special school board meeting Monday night.

“It’s a tough budget year in Pennsylvania all-around,” Superintendent Robert J. Vadella, Ph.D., said.

The deficit would change depending on how the district taxes its residents, who span Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne counties. If it continues to tax them based on the three counties’ varying millage rates, the deficit would be $392,199. That amount would drop to $115,696 if it taxes all residents with the same millage rate.

The district went through each line item and made cuts where it could, district business manager Kathleen Kaczka said, and it is trying to make cuts where they would have a minimum impact on students.

“We tried to leave everything in there for the kids,” she said.

Cuts include removing conferences that do not fall under Title II grant funding and ceasing after-school driving instruction. Even documents that have been printed on color paper, like school menus and board meeting agendas, will be printed on white paper because it costs less.

The budget also does not include faculty salary increases because the district is negotiating a new contract with them. Their contract expires at the end of August.

Salary increases for support staff and Vadella are included in the budget, although Vadella has informed the district he plans to leave his job this year. His contract expires in December.

Four teachers – one each from elementary, special education, music and physical education – are retiring this year, and the preliminary budget does not include those positions. Audience members expressed concerns about the district not replacing its music teacher, but a board member suggested that job likely would be filled.

The district will vote to approve its preliminary budget at its May 9 meeting and the final budget June 13. But Vadella noted the final vote will depend on whether a state budget exists since the district cannot approve its budget until it knows how much money the state will provide.

In the meantime, the district will continue to discuss and adjust its budget.

“There’s going to be a lot of changes from this evening on,” Kaczka said.