Spending, and Saving, Money
Most of the February 24 meeting of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School Board was taken up with financial questions: capital improvements, bond refinancing, and responses to state policies.
Director of Operations Ferg Abbott introduced the district’s plan for building improvements for the next five years. The projected cost of the preliminary plan is over $15 million.
The district’s most outdated building, Strath Haven High School, would receive the lion’s share of work. Over $11 million would update locker rooms, create more secure visitor entrances, revamp the 1970s-era pool, build a mezzanine for music equipment storage, and more.
Swarthmore Rutledge School would see more work than the other two district elementary schools, at an estimated cost of $1.4 million. SRS is the oldest building of the three, and has not been renovated since 2004. An LED lighting upgrade, automated cooling and lighting systems, a new public address system, and a roof replacement would be the primary expenses.
Call for Charter School Funding Reform
Superintendent Lisa Palmer read aloud the full text of a resolution that the administration recommends the school board adopt. It calls on the state legislature to reform charter school funding. The resolution addresses what it calls the “unfairness” of payments the school district is required to make to charter schools, both brick-and-mortar and cyber. It contends that these mandatory payments are substantially higher than the cost of educating the students. “The tuition rate calculations are based on the district’s expenses,” the resolution reads, “not what it actually costs to educate a child in the charter school.”
Frustration with Governor’s Budget
Palmer also previewed Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolfe’s 2020-21 education budget, expressing frustration. The proposed budget calls for a 1.6% increase in basic education subsidies and a 2.1% increase in special education subsidies. Palmer said that, while she was “appreciative” of the raise, she is not satisfied.
“This does nothing to change Pennsylvania’s overall support for public education,” she said. “Without the state allocating considerable additional funds...the burden will still remain on our local taxpayers.”
The governor’s unfunded call for free universal kindergarten came in for particular criticism. “I’m still grappling with the magnitude of this proposal,” she said, citing the additional teachers, classrooms, and buses the district would need, should the proposal become law. “We will definitely be following this proposal very, very carefully.”
Bond Refinancing
Brad Remig, managing director of PFM Financial Advisors, LLC, which oversees the district’s finances, presented a plan to take advantage of record low interest rates to refinance one of WSSD’s municipal bonds. “We’ve patiently waited for this situation to occur,” he noted. Remig estimates that the refinancing, which will likely be finalized in May, should save the district approximately $500,000.
View this or any other school board meeting. The next meeting will be Monday, February 10, at 7 p.m., in the Strath Haven Middle School library.
