Tamaqua Area School Board on Tuesday approved emergency repairs of the drainage field following a subsidence at the high school stadium.

Superintendent Ray Kinder explained that the earth moved and slid behind the retention pond, which is on the southwest corner of the stadium, and pipe was dislodged.

Kinder cleared the emergency work with the district solicitor, Erik Helbing, and then engaged Bane Excavation to do the emergency repair, he said.

“They are probably at least halfway, if not most of the way through the repairs,” Kinder said. “They’re putting in new piping. We’re in the process of finishing those repairs. There’ll be some earth to put back into place. We’re fortunate to get this done quickly and notice this soon after it happened.”

He did not have a cost for the repair, as the work is ongoing, he said.

Finances

The district is dealing with lagging tax collections compared to last year, increased spending as the school year gears up and no subsidies from the state, as the budget impasse in Harrisburg continues.

Tax collections are down $557,646 compared to last year at this time, said Connie Ligenza, business manager.

“The majority of this is driven by the real estate tax payments,” she said. “I don’t have anything specific that’s standing out, other than just less payments to date versus last year.”

The district also had 73 per capita and 101 assessed occupational tax exemptions for July, Ligenza said.

The board approved paying bills of $1.67 million for August, and interim bills of $964,448. Ligenza explained the uptick in spending is due to handing out supplies as the school year kicks off.

The budget summary for July showed a $921,000 decrease in revenues from last year, and $2.6 million more in spending. Ligenza called the variances, “funky,” due to the slow tax collections previously mentioned, and a lack of a state budget.

“You saw the lag with our collections on the real estate tax,” she said. “We have not received any of the typical subsidies that we would receive in July.”

The district has not received its basic education, special education and other subsidies from the state, because they’re not funded due to the budget impasse, Ligenza said.

As for July spending, Ligenza explained that the district has $4.69 million, or 10.98% of its budget, encumbered versus $2.08 million, or 5.23%, last year. The reason for this difference is projects that are going on, she said.

“The high school roof (project) that was encumbered last year. That encumbrance is now transferred,” Ligenza explained. “That’s going to be paid for through a combination of grant funds, as well as capital projects funds once we complete that project.”

She expected those funds to rebalance themselves, and they will also be getting reimbursements through the E-Rates program for technology purchases.

Funding

Assistant Superintendent Stephen Toth announced that Title II and Title IV funding will be available for the district, as those funds have been released by the federal government.

There will be an increase in the Title II funding, which will help with a teacher for class-size reduction in fifth grade, reducing the ratio for faculty and students, he said.

Thanks to staff

Kinder thanked the custodial, maintenance and administrative assistants for all the hard work they did over the summer to get everything ready for the new school year.

He also thanked the administrators for handling the human resource process, and getting everyone into place for the year ahead.

“We’re looking forward to seeing all of our students,” Kinder said.

He also noted that the administrative team attended a leadership retreat in Philadelphia on Aug. 4 and 5, during which they received valuable information from a retired Navy officer.