What does a proposed cut of $1.3 million dollars to a school district's budget look like?

At Panther Valley, it looks like the high school swimming pool will close, the girls and boys swim teams, cross country teams, and golf teams will be benched and a host of other activities will also face the chopping block.Last night, the school board passed a $22,984,872 preliminary budget, which reflects a loss of $1.3 million in funding from the state and includes massive cuts to programming.The public was well aware of the proposed cuts prior to the meeting and as a result, the board room was filled to capacity, with approximately 75 additional attendees spilling out in to the hallway.A large section of the crowed included supporters of the JROTC program, which board President Jeff Markovich clearly stated early on is not being cut for the 2011-2012 school year. However, Markovich warned that there were "no guarantees of anything beyond that.""If we get another budget cut, we may have to cut the program and that's a fact of life," said director Bill Hunsicker.The proposed budget does not include a tax increase for the upcoming school year. This will be the second consecutive year with no tax increase for Panther Valley residents, a fact that superintendent Rosemary Porembo said is important because the district is aware of the financial struggles facing all of the district's residents. Markovich pointed out that the cuts are not just in the athletic department."It's across the board. It's everywhere we could find money," he said. "We are taking money out of the general fund. We can't keep going that way."Porembo presented an overview of the budget process, indicating that this could just be the beginning of the cuts."As we go on there will be so many times that this room will be filled because it's going to affect so many things," she said. "What will PV look like in years to come if every year we continue to take a million dollar deficit?"The district will dip into the fund balance to cover a portion of the lost funds for the upcoming school year, but as Porembo warned, this cannot become standard practice."The board had a lot of hard decisions. It's a rough year. We were lucky that we were fiscally responsible for the last three or four years. We were able to do for one year," she said. "We're trying to ride out the rough storm."On a positive note, Porembo announced that Ametek has come through with a $50,285 grant to help the district continue its 100 book challenge in the elementary school.Porembo expressed hope that the economic climate in the county, the state, and the country will begin to turn around and that these measures can be temporary."If that does not happen, there will be many cuts," she said, "It will break my heart if PV can't remain the way it is."Many hearts did get broken last night, however, when the board voted to eliminate the sports teams and close the pool. The elimination of the golf and cross country teams will save the district a combined total of $15,000.The elimination of the swim team will save an additional $15,000. The closing of the pool will save an estimated $50,000. Although the pool closing did pass with a 7-2 vote, at least one director indicated that he still holds out hope that the pool can be saved.Director David Hiles, who, with director Irene Genther voted against the closing, explained that he could not vote for the preliminary budget because "it's not worth the paper it's printed on." He indicated that he would not vote for a final budget that included closing the pool. Any of the proposed cuts that the board does not approve will mean more money coming out of the fund balance to make up the difference."I would like to see the school district go back to how the pool was run. It was run more as a community pool than a school district pool. It was run like a business. It was run to generate money to fund the pool. Somehow, we got away from those early days when the pool was making money with parties and a lot of usage," he said.Hiles added that he is looking for an outside organization to run the pool, potentially a partner like a therapy group or a hospital."I don't think it's being used enough," he said. "There is a way we can run this pool and make it not a burden on the taxpayer."Golf coach Larry Marek, cross country coach Michelle Markovich, and assistant swim coach Candice Gimbor all spoke on behalf of their teams. All of the coaches stressed the lifelong benefits of their sports, and Gimbor and Marek reflected on the winning records of their teams and athletes.Markovich also questioned the use of district facilities by private organizations and the cutting of an elementary school art teacher. Additionally, Markovich questioned what will happen to the current juniors who are competing in those sports."If you don't participate in your senior year, you get no recognition," she said. All of the coaches' comments were followed by applause from the audience members.Panther Valley parent Terri Kokinda asked why the board has not considered offering early retirement incentives to teachers as a way to save the district money."Other districts have taken a positive approach to saving money," she said. "Why is rewarding our teachers viewed negatively and hurting our children is acceptable?"Kokinda asked the board to put a hold on cutting programs that affect students until the final numbers from the state are available.Several board members questioned why some of the other proposed cuts and conditions in the district are not coming under fire. Director Donna Trimmel asked why people are not upset about proposed cuts to the after school tutoring program, the loss of PSSA prep coaches, and funding for the library.Hunsicker expressed outrage that currently 300 elementary school students have to brave the elements every time they need to access the main building, which includes meal and bathroom facilities."I think we worked hard on the budget. I think we put out a fair budget. I think we all deserve a pat on the back," said Hunsicker.Director R. Mickey Angst indicated that although he wants to support a no tax increase budget, he opposed voting for many of the cuts."I am voting to cut out the PSSA prep coaches and the afterschool tutors," he said, "but if the money comes through, we can move again to put them back in. As money become available, we can restore them."