State Department of Education officials gave their approval to a plan to save the financially struggling Penn Hills School District.

The plan was crafted over the past several months by state-appointed recovery officer Dan Matsook with input from a special advisory committee, district officials and residents.

School board members approved it June 29. The district received state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera’s approval letter Tuesday.

“The proposed plan is comprehensive in nature and outlines a path to restoring the district to financial stability,” Rivera wrote.

He also acknowledged the school board’s commitment to the plan’s directives and initiatives, and lauded Matsook’s efforts.

“I again thank you for accepting the challenge of serving as the chief recovery officer for the district and for your efforts working to serve the students and community,” the letter read.

Matsook started his recovery work in Penn Hills Feb. 5. The state put the district in financial recovery status in January.

“Time to roll up our sleeves to implement the initiatives described in the plan,” Matsook said via email. “We have the same resource support from PDE. However, we also have access to the transitional loan fund. I’m looking into details on the access process.”

Those loans are available to distressed districts and can be used to help offset cash flow issues.

The district is more than $172 million in debt largely due to the construction of the high school and elementary school.

The plan is available for review on the district’s website, phsd.k12.pa.us. It featured about 70 initiatives and includes demographic information about the district and community, enrollment trends and academic programming as well as finances.

“There was a lot of time and effort put into it,” Superintendent Nancy Hines said. “We’ve been very, very careful to follow the guidelines, dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s.”

Board President Erin Vecchio, who originally opposed the plan due to teacher furloughs and lack of cuts at top positions, said the state’s approval is a positive thing for Penn Hills.

“It means we’re moving in the right direction,” Vecchio said. “I’m very happy with the plan we have right now. I still would like to see more administrative cuts, and I’m sticking to that. I’m more concerned about teaching kids than seeing administrators sit there.”

The board voted to layoff 33 teachers, 12 service aides, one paraprofessional, two health room aides, five custodians, and four secretaries but no administrators on May 20.

Those cuts, along with a tax hike of nearly 6.7%, was part of the recovery plan and 2019-20 proposed budget.

The district was able to nix the real estate hike and brought back six teachers and one specialist as a result of a last-minute grant of $3.3 million in state money last month.

“The state expressed concern about the tax relief, that revenue gap and the decision to not follow an important initiative,” Matsook said. “I must send an amendment to explain we will close that revenue shortage when we plan for next year’s budget … The tax relief is a short-term band-aid to help taxpayers. It didn’t help the financial picture of the school district.

“The good news for the parents and students is that some of the additional funds were used to bring back teachers to support the educational programs in the plan. Smaller class sizes, more emotional support programs for at-risk students, and support to improve achievement. Good stuff to bring back charter students.”

Vecchio said projected elementary class sizes of 29 students also necessitated bringing back some teachers to bring them down to about 20 students.

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