It took three votes; but, the Weatherly Area School Board voted for the new 2025-26 budget to pass for $19,417,205 with no tax increase.

The initial vote was to approve the budget with a 1.5-mil tax increase. All the school board members voted no.

A new motion was voted to be added to the agenda, then the new motion was introduced to approve the budget with no tax increase. That motion passed unanimously.

“We voted no tax increase this year,” board Treasurer William Knepper said, “but, we will probably have to increase the taxes in the near future. We are not getting any support from the state or federal levels. It makes it very hard for a small school like us to operate properly.

“We need help, and we’re not getting it.”

The board voted to pass a motion to approve the contract between Behavioral Health Associates and the Weatherly Area School District.

William Knepper, while voting to approve the contract, voiced his displeasure at the cost.

“It’s out of hand,” Knepper stated. “There’s no help from the state or federal level. Right now, we are paying up and over $80,000 per student that goes there.

“It’s more than doubled in four years. We need help from the state. We need help from the federal government. We need something to go on to stop this inherent rise in these costs.”

School board member Thomas Connors, while not present at the meeting, asked board President April Walters to let the people know that he would have voted “no” on the motion.

Other business

The board also:

• Approved the resignation of elementary teacher Erica Towich. “Thank you, Erica, for your years of service,” Knepper said.

• Appointed Knepper as school board treasurer for a period of one year, beginning July 1. The treasurer position is voted on every year.

Knepper, the current treasurer, was the sole nominee, and the board approved the motion.

Knepper spoke to the board regarding the personnel/policy committee.

“We’re in the middle of holding interviews for several teacher openings and paraprofessional openings,” Knepper said. “We have some great candidates for the elementary and the middle schools. We’ll be acting on those shortly.”

• Approved the Act 93 Compensation Plan from July 1 to June 30, 2030.

Walters added, “As you know, we just approved the Act 93 Compensation contract for our administrators. We are still working on contracts for our support staff. That contact is up June 30, 2025.”

• Approved the 2025-26 insurance renewal with CM Reagant as the primary carrier at an annual renewal of $134,760, which includes at 2.3% increase. Changes in the carrier results in $18,798 savings for the fiscal year.