East Penn School District

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East Penn School District
2
Who Are We?

• 8,022 students
• EHS 2,607
• Eyer 833
• LMMS 1,040
• Alburtis 342
• Jefferson 268
• Lincoln 410
• Macungie 476
• Shoemaker 714
• Wescosville 618
• Willow Lane 714

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Who Are We?

• Approximately 1,000 employees
• 720 Special Education students
• 259 Speech Language Special Education students
• 426 Gifted students
• Operating Budget of 120,804,396
• High performing
• High expectations
• Well-rounded (academics, arts, athletics)

4
Who Are We?

• 126 students from East Penn are enrolled in cyber
  charter schools
• 164 students from East Penn are enrolled in
  bricks and mortar charter schools
• 108 children are home-schooled
• There has been a 280 growth in cyber charter
  students in the last five years
• There has been a 713 growth in bricks and mortar
  charter school students in the last five years

5
Curriculum Initiatives

• Project Based Learning
• STEM
• E-FOLIO
• Digital Media
• Digital Course Creation
• Cyber Learning
• SAS
• Keystone Exams

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Technology

• Mobile Computing/Personal Devices
• Smart-boards/Overhead Projection Units
• Wireless
• Moodle/Google Docs
• Parent Access
• Infrastructure
• 24/7
• Online Instruction and Blended Approach
• Reduction Student to computer ratio from 8 to 4
  per student

7
Community Outreach

• Senior Citizen Advisory Committee
• PAC
• Chamber of Commerce/Rotary
• Gold Card Access
• District Facilities
• Community Education Program
• Students Giving Back
• Cops n Kids
• Develop Products for the Borough
• Musical Performances
• Good Causes (Autism, Cancer, Food-drives)
• Student Service Clubs

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Did You Know?

• The 2010-11 operating budget is 120,804,396
• The value of a mil is 1,650,000
• The value of the 1.4 Index allowable increase is
  1,047,000

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Major Budget Categories

• 59 Salaries and Benefits
• 13 Debt Service
• 9 Other Educational Agencies
• 7 Pupil Transportation
• 5 Budgetary Reserve
• 5 Other Expenses
• 2 Utilities

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Did You Know?

• Transportation costs are about 6,000,000
• Total Operations and Maintenance costs are
  budgeted at about 11,110,000
• Debt Service payments are 15,531,295
• Cyber charter and regular cyber school tuition
  payments are just over 3,000,000 (district does
  get about 22 of that back a year later)

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Staffing Information

• East Penn has 14.86 students per faculty member
  while the state average is 13.2
• East Penn has 211.1 students per manager while
  the state average is 163.4
• East Penn has higher faculty and manager per
  pupil levels than the Suburban school district
  averages and for districts with an Aid ratio of
  .4115 or less
• 79.4 of East Penns professional staff have a
  Masters Degree or higher
• Source PSBA

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Did You Know?

• 2010-11 Budget Facts
• 77.2 of revenues come from local sources
• 22.0 of revenues come from the State
• 0.7 come from the Federal Government

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Local Revenue Sources

• Real Estate
• Interim Real Estate
• Public Utility Reality Tax
• Earned Income Tax
• Real Estate Transfer Tax
• Delinquent Real Estate Tax
• Interest on Investments

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Expenditures Comparison2008-2009

• Total Expenditures Per ADM-Rank Order
• Salisbury 42 16,425.55
• Southern Lehigh 68 15,228.08
• Catasauqua 94 14,719.45
• Northwestern 146 13,794.80
• Northern Lehigh 222 12,848.18
• Parkland
  246 12,643.61
• East Penn 281 12,287.79
• Whitehall-Coplay 313 12,082.83
• Allentown City 445 10,814.69
• Source PDE

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2010-11 Milage Rank Order

• Northern Lehigh 64.373
• Northwestern Lehigh 50.660
• Catasauqua 50.560
• Allentown City 45.592
• Salisbury 45.445
• East Penn 45.320
• Southern Lehigh 45.300
• Whitehall-Coplay 44.720
• Parkland 38.270

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Did You Know About Our Tax Parcels?

• Residential 83
• Apartment 2
• Agriculture 2
• Vacant 1
• Commercial 8
• Industrial 4
• Institutional 0
• Governmental 0

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Recent Act 1 History

• 2008-2009 4.4 (District stayed at index)
• 2009-2010 4.1 (District stayed under at 3.9)
• 2010-2011 3.9 (First time District sought
  exceptions... Qualified up to 5.1-Final
  budget in at 3.8)

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Exceptions

• Specific areas in which costs exceed the index
  (1.4)
• Ten (10) Areas
• Districts must complete calculations and submit
  on forms developed by PDE
• PDE approves and sets the amount of the exception
• Exceptions are legal and part of Act 1
• Go to PDE and type in Act 1 Exceptions to learn
  more

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Budget Calendar

• January 24th - Board votes to stay within index
  or not
• If the vote is negative, then the Board will vote
  on a Preliminary Budget on February 14th
• February 21st - Preliminary Budget is submitted
  to PDE
• February 24th - Deadline for publishing intent to
  file for exceptions
• March 3rd - Deadline to seek exceptions from PDE
• March 28th - First Draft of Proposed Final Budget
  is submitted to the Board
• April 11th - Board Discussion of Proposed Budget
• May 9th - Vote on Proposed Final Budget
• June 13th - Vote on Final Budget

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Fiscal Strategies

• Administration downsizing
• Curtailment of non-instructional employee hours
• Energy consortiums/Lighting
• Willow Lane is a LEEDS school
• Boiler work
• Roofing work

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Fiscal Strategies

• Refinancing Debt
• Leasing LMES
• Partnerships
• Green Computing
• Transportation
• Re-bid Benefits/Employee Contributions
• Sadly, arrested increases in department budgets
• Introduce and implement our own cyber school
• Increase Access Billing

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Debt Service Refinancing

• Over the past twelve (12) years, the district has
  refinanced existing debt and saved 7,981,000 in
  those transactions.
• The district saved 484,128.64 by refinancing
  bond sale on January 24th, 2011.

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Concerns

• Potential for rapid growth
• Growth in special category students
• Lagging revenues
• Tax assessment appeals
• Direction of State and Federal Funding
• Unfunded mandates
• Cant happen in East Penn and a lack of awareness
  that there are no simple solutions
• Misinformation

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Christopher Borick Survey Results

• Muhlenberg College/Morning Call
• Statewide Policy Poll
• Education Finance Questions
• February 2010
• Frequency Report
• Number of Interviews 450 Adult Pennsylvanians
• Margin of Error /- 5 at a 95 level of
  confidence.
• Fielding Dates February 8 February 22, 2010
• Method Of Interviewing Telephone
• Many Pennsylvania school districts are facing
  significant budget problems. In order to balance
  school district budgets please indicate if you
  strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat
  oppose or strongly oppose the following policy
  options

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Survey Results
Strongly Support Somewhat Support Somewhat Oppose Strongly Oppose Not Sure
Require students to pay a fee for extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs. 13 21 14 49 3
Increase the size of classes to reduce the number of teachers that the school district will need to employ. 4 13 13 68 2
Reduce the range of course offerings to reduce the number of teachers that the school district will need to employ. 6 16 17 56 5
Increase local property taxes to provide school districts with the financial resources to maintain their current curriculum and programs. 9 20 14 55 2
School districts should be consolidated. 18 27 15 27 13
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Administrative Actions in Budget Process

• Review and analyze each department budget
• Review personnel at all levels and in all labor
  groups
• Calculate Retirement Differentials
• Review all revenue projections
• Meet with all governmental agencies to determine
  potential for revenue
• Decipher signals from State and Federal sources
• Calculate Kindergarten enrollment
• Calculate Transportation needs

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Administrative Actions

• Review all special needs programs
• Develop an internal list of potential cuts based
  on the following
• Vision Statement
• Mission Statement
• Strategic Plan
• Education is our core business
• Defining needs as opposed to wants
• Make do with decisions

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Future Budget Communications

• Budget Newsletter (Electronic)
• Blogs and Electronic Updates
• Selected Online Videos
• Press Releases (Emmaus Patch, East Penn Press,
  Morning Call Blog)
• Board Meetings
• PAC
• Online survey (ideas on new revenues and cost
  savings)

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District Websitewww.eastpennsd.org

• School Information
• Dashboard
• Annual Report
• Budget Book (charts, statistics, accounts)
• Senior Citizen Tax Relief
• Board Policies/Meeting Minutes
• News

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Resources for Information

• AASA (www.aasa.org)
• NSBA (www.nsba.org)
• PSBA (www.psba.org)
• PDE Website
• Phi Delta Kappa (latest Gallup Poll)
• Credo Report (Stanford University)
• Diane Ravitch
• Auditor General Wagners Report on Cyber Charter
  Schools and Recommendations
• Federal Education Plans (Blueprint for Success
  and Federal Technology Plan)

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Research/Reports on Issues

• Center for American Progress
• Vouchers
• School Choice
• School Funding
• Teacher Evaluation Systems/Models

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EPSD Contact

• Nicole Bloise, Community Liaison
• Phone [phone]
• Located in the Administrative Offices 800
  Pine Street, Emmaus, PA 18049