3% tax hike OK’d in New Kensington-Arnold

Property owners in the New Kensington-Arnold School District will see a 3% tax increase next school year.

The school board approved the district’s budget of about $50.2 million, which includes a 3-mill increase. That takes the district’s tax rate to 102.14 mills, according to Business Manager Jeffrey McVey.

There are no program additions or reductions in the budget.

The budget is balanced using the additional 3 mills of taxes, which generates roughly $338,000, McVey said. It also pulls $179,000 out of the district’s fund balance to cover the remaining deficit, Superintendent Christopher Sefcheck said.

“Our enrollment is steady,” Sefcheck said. “We’re just not getting tax revenue.”

There are no major projects included in the budget, Sefcheck said, but the district is entertaining bids to refurbish part of Valley High School’s auditorium.

Cyber charter reform

Sefcheck pointed to the $3.3 million the district paid last year in tuition for students who live in the area but choose to attend a public cyber charter school.

“Imagine how that would help the taxpayers in this community if their money wasn’t leaving here and going to cyber charter schools with no accountability structures,” he said.

State House Bill 1500, which would set a flat tuition rate for cyber charter schools, is working its way through the state Legislature, Sefcheck said.

“We’re hoping for bipartisan cooperation in passing something that’s needed, especially with transparency and, most importantly, accountability measures,” he said.

It calls for a $8,000 cap on how much school districts pay cyber schools for each regular education student and a “more fair formula” for special education students, Sefcheck said. It also provides for transparency of how funds are spent, he said.

If cyber schools accumulate a fund balance in excess of what’s prescribed in the bill, they would have to send excess money back to the public school districts according to a formula based on how many students each district has enrolled in the cyber school, Sefcheck said.

New positions

The budget also covers new positions, including an athletic/activities director, associate tech director and school safety and security coordinator.

About 80% of the school safety and security coordinator position would be paid for from a grant the district received from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, Sefcheck said, with the remainder being paid through a partnership with the Northern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center. The center shares a campus with Valley High School.

“We’re finalizing last-minute details on a job description so we can get that going and get somebody hired before the start of the school year.”

The district also opened the position for the activities/athletics coordinator; the aim is to streamline communication and coordination for different sports and events, Sefcheck said.

“We wanted one person to coordinate both activities and athletics for all the facilities usage and coordination,” Sefcheck said.