Could freezing expenses this year solve Panther Valley’s projected 2017-18 budget deficit?

One school director thinks it could help, but other board members say it wouldn’t have an effect.During a recent meeting, school board member Irene Genther said she had heard of districts freezing expenses in one year to improve their finances for the next.Genther said that she could recall other districts freezing expenses like travel and even use of the copy machine.“If we curtail expenses for the rest of this year, we will have more money to use in our fund balance for next year. I think that has to be looked into,” she said.The district is planning its 2017-18 budget with a projected deficit. The board will also be under pressure to approve a new contract with its teachers, who plan to go on strike May 22.Board members and district officials said that most of the 2016-17 budget has already been spent, leaving little room for cuts.“The money you’re spending now until the end of the year is salary and benefits, tuition, charter school tuition,” district business manager Ken Marx said.Cuts are underway for the 2017-18 budget, Marx said. He said they have identified $100,000 in savings on supplies, as well as $43,000 from a recent bond refinancing.Renee DeMelfi pointed out that field trips would not save any money, something Genther mentioned, because they are funded by parents themselves.Marx said they were taken out of the budget four years ago.“The only thing the district pays for as far as transportation — is academic competitions, JROTC transportation, but as far as field trips, either the students raise money or the PTO,” he said.The final budget will be passed in June. With a $500,000 deficit, the district may have to cut into its fund balance. Panther Valley has the lowest fund balance of any district in the area by far — about $1 million.“Somehow we have to give here. To have that much of a fund balance, it’s absolutely scary,” Genther said.