Community Corner

Superintendent: No Discussions Made on Any School Librarian Layoffs

Marple Newtown Superintendent of Schools Merle Horowitz sets the record straight that no discussions have been made about the rumors swirling about any layoffs.

NEWTOWN SQUARE–Some rumors have been swirling around the community about potential layoffs that may occur–specifically to the and librarian positions–to cut down the proposed tax increase of 2.67 percent even further.

At a school board meeting in January, with the board pursuing a retirement exception, which translates to approximately $562,000.

At a previous meeting, school district Business Administrator Joe Driscoll stated that the board may not go above the 2.67 percent tax increase as adopted in January but may go below that percentage. 

Find out what's happening in Marple Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Pennsylvania's Act 1 Index caps the tax increase at 1.7 percent, which translates to about $525,000 that the board will have to cut in the budget to bring down the 2.67 percent increase to the Act 1 cap.

However, Superintendent Merle Horowitz laid to rest any rumors that were flying about librarian positions at both the high school and middle school.

Find out what's happening in Marple Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Absolutely not true," stated Horowitz after a Budget & Finance Committee meeting on Tuesday night. "Those rumors are not true. Those things are rumors."

Horowitz told Marple Newtown Patch that Tuesday night's Budget & Finance Committee meeting was the first time the committee has discussed the budget since Driscoll has been out sick due to an injury.

"There have been no meetings on any of this. There are no decisions that were made on asking about the parameters of how to cut the budget, should the board choose to do so," said Horowitz.

Horowitz gave a hunch that parents may be anxious, considering the district's previous years during budget season when cuts were made to the foreign language program, German program at the middle school, field trips, positions and more.

"It's because of past years," shared Horowitz. "We're not looking at any positions at this time. There are several new savings in the budget."

At Tuesday night's meeting, Driscoll shared with board members that the state is considering giving the school district $200,000 more than what the school district had anticipated. Driscoll was wary of what this could mean for future budget years to come and whether the state would freeze state aid or whether they will consolidate some of their aid.

"I am concerned that what the state may be trying to do is lock into a portion of what they’re currently paying at one or two levels. Social security won’t grow with payroll, social security won’t grown with its index," shared Driscoll. "But the fact that it’s a couple of hundred thousand more than what we had budgeted, I don’t know how it’s going to stand. Deciding on what to budget in our budget...I’m hoping the state budget process goes a little quicker."

The school board will present the public with its proposed final budget at its meeting on April 10, where any discussions of changes to the budget or any cuts to the budget will be made. The district has until May 30 to send their proposed final budget to the state and their final budget by June 30.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here