Panther Valley: Cyberschools hurting budget

Panther Valley School Board members met with teachers last week to discuss the budget and in particular, the growing cost of cybercharter tuition.

The board is tackling a worrisome 2020-21 budget while negotiating a new contract with its teachers, and searching for a new superintendent.

While negotiations continue between the teachers and the board, both sides agree that cybercharter education continues to take a growing piece of the district’s funds.

“The need is becoming greater and greater for cybercharter reform. It’s debilitating to all the public schools, it really is,” said board member Renee DeMelfi.

Business manager Ken Marx Jr. said that in 2018-19, the cost of cyberschool tuition and special education tuition cost $1.2 million more than what the district budgeted. State law requires local school districts to pay tuition for students who live in the district but attend cyberschool.

Marx said the school doesn’t even receive a bill for the services. The Department of Education sends them a document with a list of district residents enrolled in cybercharters, and automatically deducts the tuition cost from the district’s annual funding.

School employees said that children move to cybercharter schools for various reasons.

Panther Valley Elementary School Principal Robert Palazzo said some parents disagree with discipline procedures.

Lisa Ogozalek, a guidance counselor at the junior-senior high school, said some parents can’t get their kids to attend school, and enroll them in cybercharter in part to avoid truancy fines.

There are also district residents enrolled in cybercharters who never attended Panther Valley schools.

Marx said the cybercharter doesn’t even need to prove that the student lives in the district. If the district suspects a student is fraudulently using a Panther Valley address to attend a cybercharter, they must prove to the state that it’s not the case.

The district has made some efforts to get students to return to school.

Through a contractor, the district has started its own virtual academy. It costs the district less to educate students at Panther Valley Virtual Academy than it does if they attend a different cybercharter.

The district is also trying to provide more for emotional support students so they don’t have to be placed in outside facilities which are expensive for the district.

Marx said the growing cost of cybereducation makes it difficult for the district to budget accurately.

The district is currently planning its 2020-21 budget, which must be passed by June 30.

Marx said if the board cuts nothing from the preliminary budget it passed in January, the district will lose $1.8 million in 2020-21, leaving them with a fund balance of negative $1.2 million.

He said the estimated loss is higher than it was last month, because there are some large taxpayers in the district who have not yet paid their 2019 property taxes. Marx said he is in discussions and is hopeful they will pay the bill for 2019.

Marx shared a list of nonpersonnel items which he suggested for possible cuts to help the district balance its budget. In all, the cuts would save $135,000.

The proposed cuts include: meal stipend for athletic tournaments, $3,000; athletic equipment, $10,000; bottled water contract, $3,000; library purchases, $20,000; on-call doctors $4,000; limiting the use of facilities by outside groups, $5,000; school field trip transportation, $5,000; engineering club, $5,000; student accident insurance, $10,000; travel reimbursement, $20,000; educational software, $50,000.

Ending the district’s contract with LCCC, which allows district residents to take community college courses at a reduced cost, would save the district $127,000 next year.

Title I reading teacher Pauline Romanowski questioned where the budgeted $20,000 for the library goes, since the district has no librarians. She oversees the intermediate school library and said the costs are much lower than $20,000.

Middle school teacher Tara Yuricheck, who also heads the teachers’ union, said the district should look at ending its technology contract with the Intermediate Unit because it costs a lot and the service is poor.

“We have people using personal hot spots at the elementary school, we have teachers at the junior high school that have lessons planned and they go to stream and they have no internet. It’s 2020,” she said.

Panther Valley Elementary teacher Tori Koerbler urged the board to avoid cutting the use of facilities for youth sports. She said it would hurt the youth sports programs as well as high school sports.

“It really is the heartbeat of our community and our school district, and I think that would be a huge blow to the gut,” she said.

The district’s next budget meeting is scheduled at 5 p.m. today at Panther Valley Intermediate School.