MNSB Needs To Think Outside The Box

As a member of the Marple Newtown School Board, we love to cry poor.  In reality, we are not and hardly face the severity of the financial problems many districts in our area must now tackle. How embarrassing is it to have a zero tax increase just last year and furlough or not replace six retiring teachers this year. Don't get me wrong these are tough times, but I believe we are still in a good spot.

With my youngest son graduating in June, I just commented to an administrator last week how grateful I was for the many teachers, coaches and activity leaders who also served as role models who helped shaped my son into the young man my wife and I are very proud of. Dan Peters clearly is a role model.

Some can argue that Act 1 was established so other districts would operate with the same fiscal responsibility as MNSD.  We have a surplus account that is now maxed out by law at $5.4 million dollars, which is 8% of our annual budget. Now it is a slippery slope when you start taking from this fund to balance a budget because you need it every year thereafter and eventually it will run dry. EXCEPT, if you have a new revenue source coming on the tax rolls in the form of a major development. I don’t know how many districts out there can say Toll Brothers is building 450 new high end homes in the community. We certainly can. I know this is counting your chickens before they are hatch, but this is a pretty safe bet and I think our kids are worth the risk. If it doesn't work we made the effort and we can pick up the pieces next year. It is certainly worth a try.

Another way to tackle this is thru our annual budgetary reserve. Our budgetary reserve for unexpected expenses is $700,000 or one percent of the total budget.  From my experience in the recent past, we never exhausted this reserve account. It has been used in the past to fund a rental oil burner at the community center along with a ridiculous amount of oil. Much of the community center has been renovated and the heat is new throughout the building. New windows are on the way for the rest of building as well. The high school renovation is now complete and should not be nipping away at this reserve. I do not feel it is irresponsible with $5.4 million in reserve to reduce this account to a half of a percent or $350,000. That would easily solve this shortfall.

MNSD is a district that taxed but did not spend nearly $6 million over the past five years, including $2.5 million last year. I expect another seven figures this year as well to go into this account.  Don’t get me wrong, it is great to save money but not at the cost of merging and cramming programs.

When the district’s budget was $45 million, we spent about $20 million on MNEA salaries.  The budget is now $70 million and we still spend $20 million on MNEA salaries.  I am aware of additional healthcare costs and PSERS, but not to this tune. As a matter of fact, when the new MNEA contract expires in 2015, the total salary will be almost identical to the total amount at the end of fiscal year 2008.

I don’t have any more time to write a more polished letter today, but these are the facts as I know and understand them. If we still had Dave McGinley to kick around, there would be no furloughs and the tax increase would be at a minimum.

John McDevitt