The Shaler Area School District’s plan to restructure its debt and borrow new money to pay for building projects would balance its 2026-27 budget, erasing a $3.7 million deficit and leaving it with an $856,000 surplus, according to the district’s business manager.
In either case, the district’s preliminary budget carries no property tax increase, business Manager Kimberly Pawlishak said. An increase up to 4.2% is allowed under the district’s state-imposed inflation limit.
As presented by Pawlishak, the 2026-27 preliminary budget shows Shaler Area spending about $104.8 million on revenue of about $101.1 million.
The district’s spending is increasing by 2.49% from the current school year, while revenues are increasing only 1.46%.
While the district’s expenses are increasing at a steady trend of about 2.7% per year, Pawlishak said, revenues are “inconsistent,” with no steady trend.
The proposed debt restructuring would save the district about $4.5 million in the 2026-27 school year. With that, the district would go from a deficit to a surplus, spending about $99.3 million on revenue of about $100.2 million, according to Pawlishak.
The savings would be short-lived. The district’s spending is projected to exceed its revenue in the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years, with Pawlishak saying that larger debt payments would resume in 2028-29.
The board is expected to vote on the bond issue April 22. It began the process of taking out the bond at its March 18 meeting by appointing the law firm of Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote to serve as bond counsel and Piper Sandler as bond underwriter.
As proposed, the bond issue would get the district $7.5 million in new funds and restructure its existing debt to provide temporary budget relief. It would extend the district’s debt payments from ending in June 2040 to June 2047. The district’s debt payments would increase from about $105.9 million to $134.4 million.
The new money will be spent on projects over the next one to three years at the district’s middle school, Reserve Primary School, Shaler Area High School and safety zones on three roads. The projects are expected to cost $8.1 million.
The district has a $1.3 million state grant to apply toward the middle school, reducing the total funds needed from $8.1 million to $6.8 million. It would borrow $7.5 million over 20 years to allow for inflation, Pawlishak said.
The board on March 18 awarded four contracts totaling about $4.6 million for work at the middle school — about $2 million to Ramp Construction for roofing, $1.6 million to R&B Mechanical for HVAC, $708,000 to A-1 Electric for electrical and about $181,000 to CPP Enterprises for painting.
The board also approved paying Shaler $21,000 for a building permit, plan review and inspections associated with the middle school project.
Paving and updates to exterior doors and lighting would bring the total projected cost at the middle school to $6.7 million.
At Reserve Primary School, the district estimates that paving and upgrades to exterior doors will cost $1.1 million. School safety zone projects on Mt. Royal Boulevard, Burchfield Road and Marzolf Road are expected to cost around $200,000. At Shaler Area High School, auditorium and roof safety upgrades are projected to cost around $100,000.
At the March 18 meeting, board member Dorothy Petrancosta cast the only no votes for the bond counsel and underwriter, the middle school contracts and the payment to the township.
Petrancosta said the district has historically not been fiscally responsible, restructuring and refinancing its debt too many times, extending its debt further into the future for only temporary relief. She encouraged residents to get involved and let the board know whether they support the current debt restructuring plan or not.
