POTTSTOWN PA – Having dutifully advertised its intent to present a preliminary 2011-’12 Pottsgrove School District budget of $58.5 million accompanied by a proposed tax rate increase of 5.2 percent, and knowing both numbers are certain to change in coming months, the district Board of School Directors voted unanimously and without comment Tuesday (Feb. 8, 2011) to adopt the first draft of its spending plan.

Board Treasurer Fred Remelius was absent Tuesday and did not vote.

Directors so far haven’t done much with the budget, introduced weeks ago by Business Administrator David Nester, other than raise questions about it. Their chief concern, mirroring that of boards in other districts statewide, are continuing signs that Pennsylvania education subsidies will either stay flat or, worse, decline in coming years. That would leave district taxpayers responsible for uncovered costs.

The real work of budget wrangling is instead scheduled to begin next week, Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis noted. Directors will join members of Pottsgrove’s volunteer Community Budget Task Force on Feb. 15 (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. in the high school, 1345 Kauffman Rd, Pottstown PA, to kick off a top-to-bottom review of expenses and revenues that board members hope may yield almost $6 million in savings over a period of several years.

Landis declared himself pleased with the number of people who have registered to be task force participants, now in the low 70s, but he invited “anyone who has an interest” to show up at the last minute.

The district could use any and all help it might get, Nester indicated. A state program labeled as “EduJobs,” which was anticipated to send an additional $400,000 to Pottsgrove to help pay for teachers’ salaries in 2012, won’t materialize, he reported.

Instead, the state recently announced plans to use $378 million in federal EduJobs money as part of its basic education subsidies to districts. “It’s somewhat troubling for next year,” Nester said, because it may mean a lower level of state subsidies overall and the potential for a deficit of even more than the $1.2 million Pottsgrove now faces in the preliminary budget.

Beyond that, Nester added, “it poses significant questions on how the state will fund us in the future.”

Once the task force work is complete – probably by mid-April – and its report issued to the board, the by-then revised preliminary budget will be adopted by directors as a tentative budget. It can be re-worked again for weeks afterward until June, when by law the board must adopt a final budget.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 8 meeting):

• Pottsgrove, As Expected, Adopts Budget First Draft
• ‘Annie’ Preview Rocked The House … Uh, Cafeteria
• Pottsgrove Tentative Budget Adoption Expected

Related (to the Pottsgrove School District 2011-2012 budget):

• Pottsgrove Schools Budget Short Another $400,000
• Pottsgrove, As Expected, Adopts Budget First Draft
• Pottsgrove Tentative Budget Adoption Expected
• Weather Postpones Pottsgrove Budget Meeting
• Still Time In Pottsgrove For Budget Volunteers To Enlist
• Challenge To Pottsgrove Budget Advisers: 10 Percent
• Best Guesses, Deficit Launch Pottsgrove Budget Season
• Senate Education Chair Preps For Voucher, Choice Battle
• School Board Questions Pottsgrove Recreation Costs
• Pension Reform Vote Could Benefit Pottsgrove, Others
• Notebook Worthy: News Reporters Made News Tuesday
• Pottsgrove Isn’t Waiting In Search For Budget Volunteers
• If You’ve Got A Budget Idea, Pottsgrove Says It’ll Listen
• Pottsgrove Seeks More Public Input On District Budget