PA. SCHOOLS State: Some districts will receive a windfall

Some officials are already looking at how to spend the extra funds.
By HAROLD GWIN
and LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
The president of the Farrell Area School Board said buying new textbooks will be a good way to spend an additional $193,000 the state says it will send the district this year.
The state told school districts in May they would be getting a minimum 2-percent increase in their basic instructional subsidies in 2004-05 and set aside an additional $150.4 million in that category in the final version of the state budget.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education said some districts will be getting substantially more than 2 percent.
The basic instructional subsidy provides money for general education programs but also includes special allowances for such things as a poverty factor for poor districts, a small school district factor and extra money for population increases.
The state provides separate subsidies for things such as special education and transportation.
Above average
Farrell did a bit better than average on the basic subsidy, based on department of education figures that show the district will see a 4.2-percent increase.
That amounts to just over $242,000.
Michael Stabile, Farrell's business manager, said he put together a 2004-05 school district budget reflecting only about a 1-percent increase in basic subsidy funding, so that leaves Farrell with a little more than $193,000 in unallocated state money that it will receive spread over six subsidy payments.
That's the equivalent of just over 4 mills of property taxes in the district.
Michael Wright, president of the Farrell school board, said he thinks the money should be spent on textbooks.
"That would be a big priority for me," he said, explaining that the district's elementary school has run short of textbooks in recent years.
Stabile said the board might consider putting $100,000 into the general fund budget to offset a plan to take $100,000 out of the district's fund balance savings account to balance the 2004-05 budget.
New Castle Area School District administrators have the same plan for an extra $250,000 they will get from the increased state subsidies.
Superintendent George Gabriel said they had planned to move $600,000 from the district's board designated reserve fund to help balance the budget. Now they will only have to move about half that amount, he said.
Most local school districts came in around the 2 percent or 3 percent mark for their basic subsidy increase, but some were higher.
Unexpected
Shenango and Laurel school districts in Lawrence County each got a windfall that wasn't expected.
The education department estimates Shenango will get an extra $122,000 and Laurel will receive $308,000 more. That is an extra 5.8 percent and 5.2 percent respectively over last year's basic education subsidy.
"We are just thrilled with it," said Robert Filer, administrative assistant for business in Shenango. "We just really slimmed down the budget this year."
Filer noted that they can't, by state law, overspend what has already been set in the budget, so the unexpected money will act as a cushion for other expected revenue that may not come in.
Laurel Superintendent Sandra Hennon said they are still waiting for final numbers from the department before they start making plans for any extra money.
Commodore Perry School District will reach 5.7 percent, according to the department.
Robin Johnson, district business manager, said Commodore Perry had anticipated a 3.6-percent increase, or about $115,000.
The state figures show the district will get another $63,000 on top of that, the equivalent of 2.5 mills of property, Johnson said.
The school board might want to use that to restore some of the money being taken from the fund balance for the 2004-05 year, she said, noting the board tapped its savings account for $500,000.
Other districts
The Hermitage School District, rated by the state as one of the more affluent local schools, had anticipated a 1.5-percent basic subsidy increase, said Monique Barber, business manager.
The final number will come in at 2 percent, but that will amount to only about $22,000 in unanticipated funds, she said.
Wilmington Area School District is also getting the minimum 2-percent increase. It is about $94,000 over last year. Superintendent Joyce Nicksick said about $71,000 of that was not expected when the budget was prepared.
Mohawk's increase will be about 2.3 percent over last year. The district came out with about $56,000 more in state funding for basic education than they had anticipated.
"It wouldn't be anything that would solve our problems," said Lois Pacillo, school business manager. "Every little bit is welcome. Every little bit helps."
Neshannock School District's estimate of the increase in state funding was close to the recent figures released by the state. Superintendent Michael Hink said they expected to get an extra $130,771 over last year. Neshannock's estimate of basic education funding for 2004-05 is $132,768, according to the department.
Less than expected
It would appear the Sharon City School District will be getting slightly less than it expected.
Former Business Manager James Wolf said he projected a 2.5-percent increase which he estimated will mean a total of $10,726,000 in basic subsidy revenue and that's the figure in the school district's budget.
The state says Sharon will get about 2.5 percent, but put the figure is about $19,000 lower than the school district had estimated.