The operations committee of the Salisbury Township School District met March 4 for an update to the preliminary 2019-2020 budget.

Chief Financial Officer/Board Secretary Michael Taylor updated the board on the preliminary budget with the deadline for the Pennsylvania Department of Education to rule on school district requests for exceptions March 27.

The board will review an analysis of the five year forecast, proposed reductions, department/building budgets and staffing at the April 1 operations meeting which is open to the public.

Taylor said the proposed final budget will be available for public review April 18. The public presentation of the proposed final budget will be reviewed at the May operations meeting and adopted May 8. The final budget is scheduled for a vote June 12.

Changes to the budget include a basic education increase from the state of $196,255. Special education from the state increased $40,261 and investment income increased by $52,117.

Expenditure changes include a reduction of $80,000 due to two teacher retirements and a decrease of $60,000 of debt service due to expected bond refunding.

The proposed final budget revenues, with estimated exceptions are $38,007,481. Expenses are $38,525,570, creating a deficit of $518,089.

Director of Facilities and Safety & Security William Brackett updated the board on the proposed high school projects.

First to be discussed was the high school track, originally built in 1986 and resurfaced 15 years ago. The complete rebuild will cost $533,000 and will include removing the rubber surface and installing a new surface.

The high school stadium field was built in 2008 with a life expectancy of over 15 years. Bracket said the stadium field should be redone while the entire complex is under repair. The cost to cover resurface only, visible fencing, expand to south side D-zone for shot-put events is $901,000 with fees and contingency.

The varsity softball field project includes the installation of dugouts and replacement of the backstop and fencing for $325,000.

The replacement of the existing stadium lighting with modern LED, maintaining existing poles will cost $390,000.

Additional high school projects including adding exit doors for $390,000, replacement of the roof over the gym area for $871,000 and replacement of the outdoor storage garage/concession stand for $650,000.

The total cost for all proposed 2020 high school projects is $4,069,000.

The board was in agreement to move forward with D’Huy Engineering to begin the design phase for the projects but is not committing to completing the projects based on the results of the bids.

It was discussed money would need to be borrowed to complete the projects. The effect on the budget for the $4.1 million is approximately $175,000 annually in debt.

In other business, Taylor said the Pennsylvania Department of Education requires the district to advise them if remaining with the current food service provider, SFE. Administration is recommending to renew the contract with SFE.

Two policies were reviewed for a first reading: a bullying/cyberbullying update and a new policy on building security/key control.