Pleasant Valley board seeks 3.9% tax increase

Expect some ruffled feathers at Thursday evening’s Board of Education meeting Thursday night at Pleasant Valley. After seven years without a tax increase the district is proposing a 3.9 percent tax increase.

The board is seeking an exception to increase the 2019-20 budget 0.7 percent over the Act 1 index of 3.2 percent.

The board will also be discussing the recommendations made by the Monroe County grand jury. The grand jury had spent over a year investigating wiretap and intimidation allegations in the district. The presentment was issued in October and contained a number of recommendations for the district to consider implementing.

It is not unusual for the district’s preliminary budget to include an increase in the 3 percent range as that is what is permitted by law. If the increase is not included in the preliminary budget it cannot be added later to the final, approved budget.

In the past the district has implemented a number of cost-saving moves, such as staff attrition, reassignment and at times staff furloughs to avoid tax increases.

But the cost of building upkeep and future needs of the district appear to be the major cost drivers going forward. Pleasant Valley is also moving to full-day kindergarten for the 2019-20 school year.

The district is currently in the process of renovating the entrance to the high school, which comes from a need to improve safety for the building. The district recently hired an architectural firm to complete a study to determine if the existing high school can be renovated to meet the needs of the district or if a new high school is warranted.

Another factor looming in the future for the district is the fate of the Hold Harmless funding for school district. The state provides funding for schools throughout the commonwealth. Over the years, enrollment in rural areas has decreased, and Hold Harmless funding has been a guarantee to these districts that state funding would not be decreased due to the decrease in enrollment.

Enrollment in the Pleasant Valley district has decreased significantly in the past decade, but the state funding has remained relatively flat. There are discussions within the state legislature to change the Hold Harmless in an effort to move some of the funds to the underfunded, inner city school districts, such as in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

While state funds are a small percentage of the over $103 million proposed budget, but any decrease in funding will have to be addressed by the district in the future.

The board meets at 7 p.m. at the district administration conference room.