Avon Grove board anticipates budget referendum

From the Daily Local News:

Avon Grove board anticipates budget referendum

School officials say community members should help inform the electorate
Monday, September 27, 2010

By MARCELLA PEYRE-FERRY, Special to the Local News

PENN — The school year has just begun and the Avon Grove School Board is already worried about the budget for the 2011-12 school year.

For the coming year, the state's Act 1 index is 1.4 percent. That means that with the exception of a few items, if the district budget requires a property tax increase of more than 1.4 percent, voter approval is needed to enact the tax levy.

"I think we can go into this assuming we will likely have a referendum this year," board President Richard Weidenmuller said at the Sept. 23 board meeting.

Avon Grove has never had to go through a referendum.

Weidenmuller said he hopes the district can put a team together to let the public know the impact of their vote on the schools if there is a budget referendum.

"It's our responsibility to make sure they have all the facts on what would happen if the vote were yes and what would happen if the vote were no," he said. "We think we have a lot of work to do."

One of the vehicles to inform the public could be the board's community outreach committee that has been inactive of late.

School officials also indicated that a cross section of the community should be included in the process.

District Superintendent Augustus Massaro noted that when faced with a tight budget this year, officials provided recommendations for more than $2 million in budget reductions that could be used as a starting point for cuts in the coming year's spending plan.

"The reductions in the school district are going to be much deeper," Massaro warned. "My recommendation to the board would be to put together an extensive committee."

As the district faces budget cutbacks, the recent fatal traffic crash involving several students has prompted some community members to ask for the addition of driver's education classes at the high school.

Larissa Looney asked school officials why driver's education was not mandatory.

"I feel like this is probably as important as math or science. This is something every student should be able to take," she said, noting that the Chester County Intermediate Unit program is expensive and inconvenient.

"I feel like kids around here are not properly educated," Looney said. "We're scared to drive on the road with some of them. It boils down to a community problem."