The North Penn School District (NPSD) Board of School Directors approved a $260,247,826 Final Budget for the 2018-2019 school year at its action meeting Thursday, June 21, 2018. The budget includes a tax increase of 3.4 percent, equating to a $124 increase for the average NPSD homeowner.
"Administration and the school board have developed and approved a final budget that positions NPSD to meet current and future needs," said Dr. Curtis R. Dietrich, NPSD Superintendent. "As we develop our strategic goals for the next three years, some of the issues that we are looking at include full-day kindergarten, class size and building renovations. We need to ensure we have the financial resources to support possible endeavors in these areas."
The tax increase includes the 2.4 percent Act 1 index permitted by the state, plus another 1 percent in exceptions for special education and retirement costs. NPSD's taxes remain among the fifth lowest in Montgomery County. Even with the tax increase, there is a budget deficit of $2.7 million. Due to prudent budgeting, wise investing and continuing efforts to raise revenues and decrease costs, NPSD is in a position to use the fund balance and the Retirement Stabilization Fund to offset the deficit.
Next year's budget is a 3.11 percent increase from the current year's budget due to many factors including rising costs for employee contracts, technology and Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) obligations. The final budget also includes significant investment in safety measures and nearly $2 million to meet the growing needs of our staff and students through new staff, many of which are being hired to support with the emotional well-being and behaviors of our students.
New positions include six Elementary Coordinators of School Climate and Character Education. Each of these positions will support the development and implementation of school-wide, positive behavior systems and the professional development associated with such systems. Other positions in next year's budget include an additional behavioral specialist, a mental health case manager to provide transition support for students who return to North Penn High School after an outside placement, teachers, math assistants and English Language Development (ELD) assistants in various schools
"I am very proud that included in this budget is additional staffing to provide direct support to our students," said Tina Stoll, President of the NPSD Board of School Directors. "All students need opportunities to grow not only academically, but also socially and behaviorally, and this budget accounts for that."