POTTSTOWN PA – When the Board of School Directors met Tuesday (May 10, 2011) to approve the Pottsgrove School District’s 2011-2012 tentative budget, cost-saving recommendations from its volunteer Community Budget Task Force were neatly assembled on three pages and color-coded for easy reference. Green lines were a “go;” their implementation, conserving about $680,000, is already assumed for next year.

The first page of the color-coded budget task force recommendations; click on the image to download a copy

The spending plan, however, still includes a deficit of $175,000. Directors agree they will look in the next 30 days to cut even more costs, and reduce or eliminate that gap.

They might look no further than those same color-coded sheets. Red- and yellow-highlighted measures found there represent potential task force savings board members have, so far, decided to leave behind.

An estimated $146,000 in red-lined recommendations are items, Superintendent Bradley Landis candidly admitted, the district doesn’t want to do if it isn’t forced to. They would have “a direct impact on students and student programs,” he said. They would:

• Require families of school employees to pay for admission to district events, saving $1,000;
• Eliminate elementary school clubs, $22,000;
• Eliminate intramural sports where varsity or junior varsity teams already exist, $15,000;
• Require students to pay for participation in extracurricular activities like sports and after-school organizations, $54,000;
• Reduce fuel consumption with a variety of plans, up to $5,000;
• Eliminate mid-day kindergarten bus runs, $30,000
• Eliminate day-end bus runs for elementary school tutoring and clubs, $6,000; and
• Eliminate day-end bus runs for student activities, $13,000.

Potential savings from 12 of 22 yellow-lined recommendations, Landis said, were more difficult to quantify without research. They are already labeled as “to be determined,” and include suggestions like expanding joint purchase programs, re-examining cleaning and maintenance schedules, consolidating after-school programs, charging more for outside organizations to use school facilities, and reducing bus stops by having students walk farther to school.

Perhaps more importantly, because the district faces a “multi-year financial dilemma,” its yellow selections probably mark starting points for budget cost-cutting in 2012-2013, Landis acknowledged.

Although they’re on a back burner now, up to $315,000 in savings have been estimated for these yellow-lined ideas:

• Increase revenue with he addition of a Pottsgrove cyber-charter school, $70,000;
• Reduce bathroom paper supplies, $7,000;
• Reduce employee overtime by offering compensatory time off, $50,000;
• Switch online software applications vendors, favoring Google over Apple products, $30,000;
• End fiber optic cable leases at Ringing Rocks Elementary School, $8,000;
• Buy less expensive computer network, up to $10,000;
• Change computer equipment used by students, $15,000 per computer lab (maybe $60,000 or more in total); and
• Defer buying one school bus, $80,000.

There are several problems with the estimates, though, Landis cautioned. Some savings can’t be attained without an up-front investment, like changing computer equipment. Some are speculative; no one is certain the district can attract 10 students with revenue of $7,000 each to a cyber-charter operation. Some involve work rules changes – overtime, for example – that must be the subject of future labor contract negotiations.

At least one, however, is being pursued now. Director of Technology Michael Wagman said last week Pottsgrove has begun the process of moving from Apple’s iWorks online applications to the Google suite known as Google Schools.

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

• 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):

• 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