Schools
School Board to Decide on Full-Day Kindergarten
Question-and-answer session on budget also planned Wednesday.
The future of full-day kindergarten, whose state funding is being eliminated, will be decided Wednesday night by the Bensalem school board.
The board also will hold a question-and-answer session on next year's budget.
The $118.3 million spending plan includes $240,000 of local funds to maintain a pilot program of six full-day classes whose students are chosen through a lottery.
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Superintendent Bill Gretzula would prefer to expand the program to all kindergarten students but, given the state funding cut, he is recommending the six classes be maintained.
In most cases, he has said, district students who have taken part in the full-day program have exited kindergarten with double the grade and progress as those in half-day classes. In addition, he has said, full-day classes help children with their social development and allows the district to gather more data to identify students' special needs.
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Over the last several months there has been nothing but support expressed for the program by both board members and many members of the public. The only criticism has been directed at the fact that the district does not have universal full-day kindergarten.
The district's “proposed final budget” for 2011-2012 would raise taxes about $43 for a homeowner assessed at the township median of $22,000.
District officials have blamed the increase on about $3 million less in state aid and about $2 million in lost federal stimulus money.
The budget reflects revenues of $115.7 million, with the difference between expenses and revenues addressed by a draw down of $2.6 million from the district's fund balance. Business manager Jack Myers has said the fund balance now stands at $5.8 million, which includes a transfer of about $2 million from a designated reserve fund.
The higher expenditures include $1.6 million for the Public School Employees Retirement System and $1 million in medical insurance and federal payroll costs.
The board is scheduled to adopt the final 2011-2012 budget June 8 after a public hearing at Valley Elementary School.
Wednesday's board meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at the Dorothy D. Call Administrative Center on Donallen Drive. The budget session will follow that regular session.
