Greater Latrobe School Board is proposing a $68.4 million district budget for the coming school year, but administrators have yet to recommend how to close a projected funding gap of close to $680,000.
Also to be decided is how to replace more than a dozen retiring teachers.
One of those pending retirees, English instructor Kathy Massaro, asked the board to fill all faculty vacancies "so we can give our students the best possible education."
Acting Greater Latrobe Superintendent Becki Pellis indicated the district has begun seeking teacher candidates. Officials expect to recommend some candidates at the board's June meeting -- when a final version of the budget also will be considered for approval.
Pellis said Friday details weren't available on how many spots would be proposed for board action next month.
The teacher departures were prompted in at least some cases by an early retirement incentive the district offered this year.
"I would like to see that offered every year so we would not have these huge groups of teachers leaving at one time," said Massaro. "I would think that would also be something administrators would be on board with because it would cut down on the number of teachers you have to try to find in one year."
"We had 22 retirements or resignations this year," district business administrator Dan Watson said. "We had 18 teachers take action on (the retirement incentive), in addition to some other teachers and staff resigning over the year."
Watson acknowledged that number of departures is unusually large, and it's reflected in next year's proposed budget.
Salaries and benefits account for about 69% of the district's total operating costs, Watson said.
Usually, spending on salaries for more than 400 employees annually goes up by between $700,000 and $900,000. Next year, Watson is projecting that category will increase by just a little more than $86,000, or about a third of a percent.
"You can't count on that every single year," he said.
When veteran teachers retire, they typically are replaced by less seasoned instructors who aren't paid as much under the district salary scale. But other factors beyond dollar costs come into play in such staff turnovers.
"A lot of those teachers that are hired are younger and they need mentored," Massaro said.
In the face of declining student enrollment, Massaro said, teaching positions shouldn't be the only ones considered when the district is contemplating staff reductions.
"I noticed that we seem to have lost teachers more than any other adults in the district," she said.
Massaro added her voice to those calling for classroom sizes not to exceed 20 students.
Watson said other unknowns that will affect the final version of the budget when it is approved in June include insurance costs and revenue from state and federal programs.
For now, Watson said, the tentative budget reflects a decrease of about $106,000, or close to 9%, in federal funding and an increase of more than $1.1 million (about 4%) from state coffers -- assuming all of the related funding proposed by Gov. Josh Shapiro is approved by legislators.
Watson passed along good news for district property owners who are eligible for the state's homestead/farmstead exclusion program. Funded by gambling revenue, the program will reduce next year's school tax bill by $172 per property owner, up from $148 per owner this year.
On the downside, next year's district real estate tax collections -- assuming no change in the millage rate -- are expected to decrease by $26,000. That stems from a successful tax appeal by CCP Properties, which reduced by $661,000 the assessed value of the Castle Co-Packers plant site in Latrobe.
One mill of property tax generates about $350,000 in revenue for the district.
"I don't think this is going to happen again," Watson said of the projected downturn in property tax proceeds, which has occurred just one other time in the past two decades. "We normally see a gradual tax increase of around $75,000 a year in new revenue that comes into the district just because of growth within our community."
While the district has yet to decide how it would cover the projected 2025-26 funding gap, it has a fund balance of about $5 million that could be tapped.
The proposed $68.4 million budget doesn't reflect Greater Latrobe's plan to replace the junior high roof. Bids for that project are to be opened May 23.
Watson said funding the roof project and additional work, including a proposed update of the building's HVAC units, could involve borrowing $10 million or more.
The district is scheduled by 2029 to repay $15.6 million in debt remaining from construction of Latrobe Elementary School.