Pottsville Area School District Changes in Schools for 20-21 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Pottsville Area School District Changes in Schools for 20-21 Financial Overview

June 16, 2020

MEMBERS & OFFICERS

Noble Quandel, President

• Dr. Ann Blankenhorn, VP

Jerome Urban, Treasurer

• Dr. Michael Cardamone, Member

Ashley DeWitt, Member

• Dr. Christine DiCello, Member

Patrick Moran, Member Craig Shields, Member Linda Wytovich, Member

ADMINISTRATORS PAHS

• Mrs. Tiffany Hummel, Principal
• Ms. Eleanor Sanayka, Special Ed.

Supervisor

DHHL

• Mr. Michael Maley, Principal
• Mrs. Caitlin Mohl, Asst. Principal
• Ms. Kelly Brennan, Special Ed. Director

JSC

• Dr. Jared Gerace, Principal

Deneen Reese, Asst. Principal

ACADEMIC CENTER

• Dr. Jeffrey Zwiebel, Superintendent
• Mr. Brian Manning, Business Manager
• Mrs. Patricia Lombel, Asst. Business Manager
• Ms. Lisa Eckley, Food Service Director
• Mrs. Dianne Dougherty, Coordinator of Inst. Tech.

POTTSVILLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT COMMITTEE ON PERSONNEL

• It is recommended that the Board approve the following motion and direct the Superintendent and

Administrative team to:

• Study the professional district staffing needs based upon instructional program requirements and student

enrollment.

• Determine the minimum professional district staffing needs for the upcoming school year based upon the

foregoing studies.

• Make recommendations to the Board during the May 2020 board meeting based upon the considerations set

forth in the Public School Code, concerning whether any professional or temporary professional employee position should be maintained, added, reduced or eliminated during the 2020-2021 school year.

• If a recommendation is made for elimination or reduction of positions, implement the established procedures

through termination of specific temporary professional employees, obtaining such approvals from the Department of Education that may be required for the alteration or curtailment of education programs;

• Notify any temporary professional and professional employees who may be affected by the recommendations;

and

• Consult with and work with district legal counsel to insure the correctness and completeness of the process.
• Roll Call Vote

1. Administration obligation to offer a solid, fair and challenging education to our students, 2. That is fiscally responsible to our taxpayers and community, 3. No discrimination on people and programs when making these decisions.

POTTSVILLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT JOHN S. CLARKE ELEMENTARY CENTER KEY POINTS FOR 2020-2021

• Administrative team will consist of: Principal and Assistant Principal.
• The reinstatement of full-day kindergarten for the 2020-2021 school year. There will be six kindergarten

classrooms.

• We will create a schedule for our homeroom teachers that will allow a time each week for children to

select a book from our comprehensive library.

• An aide will inventory the books on a weekly basis.
• There will be a full-time music teacher at JSC for next year.

POTTSVILLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT DHH LENGEL MIDDLE SCHOOL KEY POINTS FOR 2020-2021

• Administrative team will consist of: Principal, Assistant Principal and Director of Special Ed.
• Six self-contained 5th grade classrooms with one as a co-taught room and one as a collaborative room.
• The Library Media Center will be available for book selection each day.
• 5th grade will have scheduled time throughout each week to select books
• Grades 6-8 will be able to utilize the reference materials and access the library collection during their

ELA blocks.

• Mrs. Dolbin will continue to check out books throughout the week for all grade levels.
• Mr. Schuettler will have a social studies schedule that is consistent with other members of the

department.

• Homeroom will still be utilized to allow band and choir practice.
• No change to the Title I intervention blocks.

POTTSVILLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT POTTSVILLE AREA HIGH SCHOOL KEY POINTS FOR 2020-2021

• Administrative team will consist of: Principal and Supervisor of Special Ed.
• Move from a 9 period day to an 8 period day.
• The first 8 periods will be 41 minutes in length. The last period of the day will be an activity period, called

WIN (What I Need).

• Students will participate in the following at different times:
• Keystone Prep, club meetings, Student Council, peer tutoring, pep rallies, instrumental sectional work,

choir rehearsals, Big Impact (formerly Big Brothers, Big Sisters) to JSC, Work Study for eligible students, transition, progress monitoring, etc.

• This will also lessen the impact of students leaving early for sporting contests.
• The library will still be available for teachers to utilize with their students.

POTTSVILLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT REOPENING OF SCHOOL FOR 2020-2021

• The administrative team began meetings last week after the PA Dept. of Ed. (PDE) sent guidance on how to

reopen PA schools for the next school year.

• The admin team, along with teacher and support staff representatives, will continue meeting throughout the

summer to prepare the district’s plan to reopen for this fall. A parent survey will be sent to all parents soon to

• btain input into the reopening plan.
• We will follow all guidance from PDE and the Dept of Health in constructing the district plan.
• Once completed, the plan will be presented to the Board of Directors for their approval. It will then be sent to

PDE.

• After approval, the plan will be placed on the district web site, Facebook page, buildings and Skylerts will

be sent to all parents.

• We will prepare for as many scenarios as possible.
• We believe it was important that all students hold onto their iPads this summer in case the school year

has to begin online. New kindergarten students will be contacted over the summer with instructions on how to pick-up their iPads before school begins, if needed.

3031 3034 2928 2855 2842 2855 2742 2707 2651 2572 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

10 YEAR ENROLLMENT HISTORY

Enrollment

5 Year Drop 8.11% 10 Year Drop 15.14%

You will see over a 15% decline in student enrollment over that time period. Student enrollment declined by 459 students. Source: Forecast5 Analytics; PA Dept. of Education

74% 26%

2018 COST DRIVERS

Salaries & Benefits Other Source: Forecast5 Analytics; PA Dept. of Education

$0 $500,000 $1,000,000 $1,500,000 $2,000,000 $2,500,000 $3,000,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019

PASD CHARTER SCHOOL COSTS

Costs Since 2008, PASD has spent over $14 million dollars on Gillingham Charter School and cyber charter schools. Gillingham Charter School opened in 2011, preparations were not made in advance for the loss of students to Gillingham. When a student leaves PASD, the money for that student that the state would give to PASD, goes directly to Gillingham Charter School or a cyber charter. As these two budget areas costs were increasing, PASD was in the midst of a 12 year no tax hike stance. Source: Forecast5 Analytics; PA Dept. of Education

$773,241 $921,370.71 $1,511,349.80 $2,165,699.69 $2,997,156.80 $3,876,948.77 $4,780,442.12 $5,327,554.64 $5,363,388.22 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

PSERS (PENSION IMPACT ON PASD SINCE 2010)

In 2008, the PSERS rate was 4.76%. The rate rose each year to what is the current rate of 34.29%. PASD’s PSERS rate increased 594% during that time period. As these two budget areas costs were increasing, PASD was in the midst of a 12 year no tax hike stance. PSERS and Charter School together cost PASD over $35.5 million dollars. Source: Forecast5 Analytics; PA Dept. of Education

$32,353,341.01 $34,377,593.78 $35,577,817.86 $36,719,070.67 $38,482,842.94 $40,852,837.07 $44,231,740.13 $42,026,002.02 $40,117,135.40 $35,008,700.17 $36,399,620.39 $33,756,811.91 $35,035,905.08 $36,047,723.04 $36,634,567.91 $39,144,294.46 $39,336,060.45 $40,243,346.88 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

EXPENDITURES VS. REVENUE (2010-2018)

Expenditures Revenue Source: Forecast5 Analytics; PA Dept of Education

($4,000,000) ($2,000,000) $0 $2,000,000 $4,000,000 $6,000,000 $8,000,000 $10,000,000 $12,000,000 $14,000,000 $16,000,000 $18,000,000

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

FUND BALANCE CASH BURN 2011 --- 2020 & FUND BALANCE RESTORATION GOALS 2021 – 2023”.

Expenses will be required to preserve the masonry of the Pottsville Area HS and stadium in the next 5 years. It is estimated to cost between $2.5 and $3 million. Expenses will be required for HVAC at John S. Clarke Elem. School, DHH Lengel Middle School and the High School which are estimated to cost between $2.5 & $3 million. These will need to be factored in at some point. Forecast for 2021, 2022, and 2023 are based on the assumptions known today. They can vary based on actual events which may occur in the

• future. Source: Jones & Company Annual Audits

WHAT IS A FIDUCIARY?

• A fiduciary is a person or organization that acts on behalf of another person or persons to manage assets. Essentially,

a fiduciary owes to that other entity the duties of good faith and trust. The highest legal duty of one party to another, being a fiduciary requires being bound ethically to act in the other's best interests. UNDERSTANDING FIDUCIARY DUTIES

• A fiduciary's responsibilities or duties are both ethical and legal. When a party knowingly accepts the fiduciary duty on

behalf of another party, they are required to act in the best interest of the principal, the party whose assets they are

• managing. This is what is known as a "prudent person standard of care," a standard that originally stems from an

1830 court ruling

• PASD projects best case looking forward to 2025 is a fund balance surplus of $5,000,000. The climb to restore the

fund balance will take more time than the precipitous decline over the past 7 years

In addition to the District not operating in accordance with well-established best practices, a negative General Fund balance is also concerning for the following reasons. First, if the District's fund balance continues to decrease, it is in danger of being placed in financial watch status by the Pennsylvania Department

• f

Education (PDE). Financial watch status is a precursor to being placed in financial recovery status for districts that do not improve

• financially. Second, a district placed in

financial recovery status loses local control of district operations. In these instances, the District's Board no longer has the authority to provide oversight of District operations. School districts in financial recovery status have a PDE- appointed chief recovery officer whose responsibilities include oversight of the district and the development

• f

a district-wide financial recovery plan.

LACK OF BOARD OVERSIGHT

Numerous board policies stress the importance of planning, preparing, and adopting an annual budget that accurately reflects the District's educational plan. Policy No. 603 states that the Board considers preparation of an annual budget to be one of its most important responsibilities. Additionally, Policy No. 602 states that the financial requirements of District programs shall be reviewed on a continual basis. However, we found that from July 1, 2013 until January 2018, the Board was not requiring the necessary financial information at monthly meetings to meet its fiduciary duties. During this time period, the Board was receiving a monthly bill list, a monthly budget to actual revenue report, and a month end cash balance report. The Board did not receive a monthly budget to actual expenditures report and therefore was unaware of what was being spent in each expenditure type (i.e., instructional, support, non-instructional, other). Without an expenditures report, the Board had no context to evaluate the monthly budget to actual revenue report. Additionally, during our review of board minutes, we found that the Board failed to question the District's inability to generate the local revenue amounts budgeted.

CONCLUSION

The District's General Fund balance substantially deteriorated over the five years we reviewed and with it, the financial stability of the District deteriorated. During this time, the District had a cumulative operating deficit of over $14 million and consistently budgeted for an operating loss. The District experienced increasing operational expenditures during this time period. However, the District did not adequately plan to generate sufficient revenue or reduce other expenditures to meet these increasing costs. Additionally, the Board did not adequately perform its oversight role of the District's financial operations. The Board was not timely approving the District's IARs and, for the majority of the period reviewed, the Board was not requiring financial reports needed to properly oversee the District's financial operations to be presented. The District will need to make significant operational changes to reverse the financial downturn that occurred during our review. Without these operational changes, the District is in danger of being placed

• n financial watch status by PDE.

CONCLUSIONS THE PASD BOARD HAS A FIDUCIARY DUTY TO ACT IN THE DISTRICT’S BEST INTEREST!

The Administration was charged by the PASD Board with the following in making staffing revisions:

• To provide a solid, fair and challenging education for our students
• To honor the Board’s fiduciary duties to be financially responsible to all constituents of the Pottsville Area School District
• To make all decisions without discrimination of people or programs

Strategies were reviewed for the PASD 2020-2021 Fiscal Year

• John S. Clarke Elementary School by Dr. Jared Gerace
• D.H.H. Lengel Middle School by Principal Michael Maley
• Pottsville Area High School by Principal Tiffany Hummel

Our enrollment History has been and is projected to be negative

• 15% decline from 2010-2019

All statistics have been properly documented from PDE, Forecast 5 Analytics, and Jones & Company Annual Audits.

• This current Board is NOT responsible for the financial condition of depletion of the District’s fund balance surplus
• 74% of the PASD budget is payroll
• PASD has spent $14 million on the Gillingham Charter School from 2011-2019
• PASD has no choice in this but to pay the bills owing to the Gillingham Charter School as mandated Laws of the State of

Pennsylvania

• PSERS state mandated pension obligations have escalated from 4.76% of payroll to 34.29% of payroll representing a 594%

increase on cost since 2008.

• PSERS cost in 2018 alone was $5,363,388.00
• PASD did not raise taxes or cut expenses from 2005 to 2017 despite incurring these massive added costs in District
• perations. (see Auditor General’s Report, Chart 1 page 12)
• AG Report—Chart 6, Page 21—Lack of Board Oversight