*Updates to original post are highlighted in red.
There will be three different meetings tonight at the Spellman Education Building, 782 Springdale Drive, Exton PA.
The meetings will be live streamed here.
If you’d like to make a comment at the meeting, you’ll need to attend in person. See this page for information on making public comments.
Policy Review Committee at 6:00pm. Agenda here.
12 different policies will be discussed and/or reviewed.
Property & Finance Committee meeting at 6:30pm. Agenda here.
Lots of budget numbers on pages 5-8. If you are able to make sense of them, please send me an email to help me understand it.
Projected enrollment and salary increases on page 24.
Note that next year, admin salaries will increase by 4.10% while teacher salaries increase by 3.35%. Increases through 2027 are listed. Administrator salaries are projected to increase more than teacher salaries every single year.
Page 25, shows the state basic education contribution is 0 percent. The state always provides a basic education contribution, so why does this show 0 percent?
Page 27 includes salary assumptions (averages?) and shows that the average administrator's new hire salary is $137,297 while the average teacher's new hire salary is $60,891.
Page 35, capital expenditures. For an example of the "shell game" that our district plays with budget money, look at the number that is budgeted vs what is spent. In many cases, what is spent will end up being less than what was budgeted. The district maintains that their capital expenditures are not part of the “regular” budget but will funnel any surplus money into the capital expenditures budget account, which means that they can't use those funds on education because they have been marked for capital expenditures. This is a shell game that results in unwarranted tax increases year after year.
Page 40-42: proposal to name the Greystone Elementary library after our former superintendent, Dr. Scanlon.
Page 43-44 data on Right to Know requests.
Page 76, the United Way asks for tax relief for nearly $11,000.
Special School Board Meeting to appoint a new board member. Agenda here.
A new board member will be appointed to replace Kate Shaw, who resigned last month.
10 residents of Region 1 have applied for the position.
There are no details on how the board member will be chosen so this author emailed the board secretary in an attempt to be able to report details of the selection and interview process here on this blog. The response from WCASD was vague: "The names of the candidates will be listed on the board agenda, resumes will not be posted. Agendas are typically posted Friday afternoon. The appointment must be made in public so any interviews would be done so in the public as well. President Tiernan will explain the process at the onset of the meeting."
The vague email reads like a trailer for a reality TV show where the participants will be required to perform some kind of challenge or ritual in order to win a spot on the show, but they won't know what the challenge is until the show begins. Grab some popcorn and stay tuned to see who gets to join the WCASD version of School Board Survivor Island.
