POTTSTOWN PA – Back on April 13 (2011), when the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors received a list of 49 cost-saving recommendations from its volunteer Community Budget Task Force, board member April Kontostathis promised a large audience in attendance that directors also were examining administrative expenses.

The Pottsgrove School District in recent years, she said, had already eliminated one of two assistant superintendent positions. “Could there be more cuts?,” she asked rhetorically, and then answered, “Yes. Are we looking at that? Yes.”

There was no mention of administrative overhead Tuesday night (May 10), when the board happily approved a 2011-2012 tentative budget that bears a proposed property tax increase of 2.8 percent and reduces an earlier budget deficit of about $2 million to $175,000. But word has leaked since Sunday (May 8), from several district employees, that the ranks of the administration might be trimmed through attrition by June.

A unidentified member of the district administrative team, one of its so-called Act 93 supervisory employees, reportedly has discussed or has already tendered a letter of retirement. If the position is vacated, The Post has been told, it would not be filled.

School board members to whom The Post has since talked are tight-lipped on the subject. They neither confirm or deny the speculation; they simply and politely say they won’t discuss it. If true, however, the salary to be saved likely would represent as much or more than half of the remaining deficit.

Leaving an administrative job open, or eliminating it entirely, certainly would position board members and Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis – with whom The Post has not talked – as heroes in the opinions of some taxpayers who believe Pottsgrove is top-heavy with leadership.

Konotstathis’ comments about administrative cuts, for example, were in reply to questions posed publicly by Task Force volunteer Dawn Savio, as reported April 14 by The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper. “Have you looked at the administration?,” Savio asked at the time. “I mean we have five schools and it seems like there’s a very large administration.”

Attrition may also play a role in savings on other employee levels, Business Administrator David Nester said Tuesday. Although the district’s just-signed labor contract extension with its teachers’ union prohibits the layoff or demotion of any of its members for a year in which teachers have accepted a wage freeze, it does not require the district to fill any vacancies left by departing union members during the same period.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ May 10 meeting):

• Does Pottsgrove Have An Administrative Cut-In-Waiting?
• Red And Yellow Items Left On Pottsgrove Budget Table
• Pottsgrove OKs 2.8% Tax Hike In Tentative Budget
• Teachers’ Contract Extension On Pottsgrove Agenda

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

• Does Pottsgrove Have An Administrative Cut-In-Waiting?
• Red And Yellow Items Left On Pottsgrove Budget Table
• Pottsgrove OKs 2.8% Tax Hike In Tentative Budget
• Local School Boards Face Both Cuts And Policy Changes
• Pottsgrove Chinese Language Students Face Cuts Again
• Pottsgrove Task Force Didn’t Shelve Pay-To-Play Plan
• Committee: Charter School May Save Pottsgrove $70K
• Pottsgrove Paying $28K Next Year For MCIU Support
• Secretary Says Schools Must Find Funds Themselves
• College Students Protest Proposed Ed Budget Cuts
• Pay Freeze Endorsed As Pottsgrove Labor Talks Start
• Pottsgrove High Protesters Exercise Art Of Compromise
• Pottsgrove’s Landis Distributes State Fund Comparison
• Pottsgrove Budget Deficit Balloons With Gov’s Proposal
• MCIU Budgets On Pottsgrove Schools Agenda Tonight
• PA House OKs ‘Cut And Replace’ On Education Funding
• Idea: Other Local Schools Consider Extracurricular Fees
• Idea: Pottsgrove Might Prosper With Own Charter School
• Pooling Resources Could Save Pottsgrove On Special Ed
• Like Pottsgrove Task Force, Outsiders Weigh Cost Vs. Value
• Task Force Crowd Packs Into Pottsgrove For First Session
• School Budget Task Force Kicks Off Its Work Tonight
• Does Western PA School Tax Uprising Foretell Mood Here?
• 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

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