The Salisbury Township School District examined changing the company who monitors their security systems including the fire, burglar and exterior door access, from Stanley Sonitrol to Simplex, according to Director of Facilities William Brackett during the operations committee meeting April 3. The original quote from Simplex was $150,000, Brackett said; however, after working with corporate headquarters the price has been reduced to $135,000.

Brackett also said several areas of flooring will need to be replaced at the high school. In some high traffic areas, the carpeting will be replaced with more durable flooring. The quote for the new flooring from Keystone Purchasing Network is $32,000.

At Salisbury Middle School, the front office design is under scrutiny and has begun to show its age. Brackett said since the current layout is “not conducive” for the current needs of the school a new design plan, including replacement of the carpeting is underway and a layout provided by a new vendor for the project will save the school approximately $10,000.

To improve the Internet service at the high school, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Lynn Fuini-Hetton reported the district has hired a company to determine access points at the school to provide better coverage. The district will be responsible for $33,000 of the expenditure for the service, while the remainder will be funded by the commonwealth and the E-rate program.

E-rates is funded by the Universal Service Fund and provides discounts on Internet functions for eligible schools. Superintendent Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss said $60,000 of the improvements for the district were funded by the state.

The price to resurface the tennis courts will be $162,000. Brackett said the district will also be replacing the fencing fabric at the courts at a cost of $10,000.

At Harry S Truman Elementary School, the stage curtains are beyond repair according to Brackett and the fire rating has “long gone by the wayside.” The district will replace the curtains at an expense of $10,000. The HST Parent Teacher Organization has offered to contribute $2,000 of the $10,000 expense.

Brackett said when the swingsets were replaced at Western Salisbury Elementary School last year, the PTO contributed a portion of the expense. At the time of installation, by request of the special needs classrooms two of the four swings installed were handicapped swings. Since the PTO paid for four standard swings, the district will install two additional swings.

The total for all the repairs and improvements, including new furniture in seven classrooms at SMS was reported to be $509,000, bringing the district’s capital expense fund to approximately $511,000.

Brackett is working on a “top 10 list of future repairs” for the district.

Director George Gatanis said it was important to note the projects are funded by the district’s capital fund and not from the general budget.

The capital fund is replenished through reimbursements from the state, according to Board President Frank Frankenfield.

Board Secretary Robert Bruchak added, “In a few years, one of the debts we are making a large payment on is dropping off and being replaced by a debt that will increase its payments dramatically and is one that is PlanCon reimbursable. Our reimbursement from PlanCon will increase in about three years from now.”

The Board voted unanimously to move ahead with the repairs and improvements in Brackett’s report.

The district’s proposed final budget will be presented at the May 1 meeting with a final adoption date of June 14.

Bruchak reported the projected budget has been reduced approximately $500,000 from the figures reported in March and the total budget for the 2017-2018 school year is now projected at $37,102,314. The flat tax millage rate is 18.0596 and federal revenues will be level funded.

Salaries for teachers are projected to increase at 2.4 percent, while those for support staff will increase 2.5 percent.

Health insurance expenses are reported to decrease 5.38 percent for the upcoming school year and have a projected increase of three percent thereafter.

The Pennsylvania Public School Employees Retirement System expense was generated using the most current amortization schedule, according to Bruchak. PSERS is not projected to hit the peak rate of 36.40 percent until the 2021-2022 school year. Bruchak noted PSERS had originally been projected to peak last year at 33 percent.

Transportation expenses are budgeted at a two percent increase while charter school expenses reflect a 3.5 percent increase.

Revenue, using Governor Tom Wolf’s budget, is projected to increase one percent for basic education and two percent for special education. The projected revenue also included an assumption of the state reimbursement for Social Security and PSERS, according to Bruchak.

Considering the expenses, the district has a $1.3 million gap in revenue.

Bruchak reported that without a tax increase, and using all their fund balances, “the district would be broke by the 2018-2019 school year. ”

Figures reflect the district remains underfunded by the state and Federal Government for mandates concerning charter school and special education services.

Using several different tax variances, including not raising taxes or using only a millage increase, the graphs presented by Bruchak indicate in order to keep the district solvent, the budget would require both the ACT I index and assumptions.

The projected tax increase for the 2017-2018 school year, including the allowable ACT I index of 2.5 percent, 2.61 percent for special education services and 0.493 for PSERS funding is 5.61 percent. The impact to the average homeowner is an increase of $235.

Bruchak said he “encourages the public to attend the meetings to realize what the district struggles with each year in order to balance the budget.”