In his report to the board Superintendent Dr. Michael Schilder responded to a concern voiced by several board directors regarding the district’s official course of action in the event the state does not decide on a budget by a critical point in the year– a point quickly approaching by more than one estimation.

Schilder said in some cases the district is able to stave off some immediate expenses, such as the Public School Employees’ Retirement System. Currently there is a bill due of $3.7 million but Schilder says PSERS notified the district only the net employee share of the bill is due, in the amount of $1.8 million.

Also, the district does not pay cyber charter school tuitions, Schilder reminded the board, as they are deducted from the state subsidy to the district. What they pay for is the bricks-and-mortar charter schools.

February 2016 is noted as the point of problem for most school districts, Schilder said.

In the event the budget year progresses further without a state budget, Schilder said the district administration will start looking at where spending can be delayed or frozen in terms of purchases. These freezes will not impinge on student programs or instruction, the superintendent promised.

In the long term, Schilder acknowledges February 2016 as a worst case scenario. If the state budget is not passed by then, the district may have to withhold payment of charter school tuitions, possibly also not filling paraprofessional staff positions which will be vacated by attrition. It is also possible attendance at professional development programs will be curtailed. These are, Schilder emphasized, worst case scenario projections.

In other business, the board voted to approve the salary roster for the 2015-2016 year, shown in full in an attachment to the board agenda available online. Director Lynn Donches stated her objection to the motion, noting she had not supported Act 93 or the agreement with the teachers’ union most recently approved by the board. Donches said the increases in salaries, pensions and benefits to district employees are causing funds to be diverted away from students.

Donches emphasized the need to make small incremental reductions to these increases– her suggestion is a 1 percent reduction over a period of years to defray spending.

“This will make a huge difference in future district liabilities,” Donches said.

In his legislative report, Director Charles Ballard affirmed nothing is happening in the state legislature because they have all gone on holiday. Ballard said no one wants to commit any sins before voters as the election season approaches. Any decision from the legislature will certainly elicit pain from voters one way or the other, whether it cuts programs or raises taxes.

Some districts, Ballard said, have talked about closing their doors or asking teachers to work without pay for a period of time. There is no sign so far of anyone in the legislature moving toward any center position that will propel the state budget forward.

In addition, the senate is considering Senate Bill 877 that would remove the ability of the districts to challenge assessment appeals, which Ballard noted as unfair, showing the districts as “the bad guys.”

The board continued review of its policies, this time in a second reading of policy series 000 Local Board Procedures, which details “the general parameters within which the daily operations of the school district are to be governed,” among other things. Revisions will continue on this series prior to public adoption.

Six students from Emmaus High School have been named semi-finalists in the 2016 National Merit Scholarship competition. Katherine Bacher, Zhuohong He, Xiang Luo, Darsh Patel, Katie Xue and Ying Zhueng were acknowledged for their achievement before the school board from among 1.5 million students in the country who entered the competition.

Schilder elaborated to the board Emmaus is one of 22,000 high schools participating in the competition. Students enter via the PSAT qualifying test which acts as a screen for the program. According to the program’s website, finalists will be announced in February of next year.

The board heard briefly from new executive director of Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, Thomas “Tim” Rushton, who previously served LCTI as director of career and technical education. “I look forward to working with you as a team,” Rushton said to the board. “It’s our job to advance technical education in Pennsylvania.”