Greenwich
girds for budget brouhaha
School district officials say numbers not in
their favor this year.
Friday, November 05, 2004 • By LINDA LISANTI •
The Express-Times
GREENWICH TWP. -- School elections are still six months
away, but township taxpayers are already being braced for a
tough budget year.
During the annual pre-budget forum held by the school
board Wednesday, officials laid out a laundry list of
challenges the district faces, which they said may result in
a 2005-06 school budget that reduces programs and raises
taxes.
"There are a lot of ifs," Superintendent Kevin Brennan
told the crowd of about 50 residents who gathered at the
Greenwich School.
Among the factors are: A change to the Greenwich's
District Factor Group -- a socioeconomic state ranking --
that puts the district in the second wealthiest tier.
Greenwich now receives about 42 percent in state aid,
but officials said other districts in their new level
receive at most 20 percent in aid. New state legislation
restricts spending and saving by public school districts.
Spending increases are capped at 3 percent or the Consumer
Price Index, whichever is greater.
Brennan said to keep a budget increase to only 3 percent
is near impossible for a consistently-growing school
district like Greenwich.
"We've never been able to do that," he said. A recent
demographic study shows that the school district is expected
to grow by approximately 3 percent. Officials said any
growth will force them to further expand the budget.
With all those issues in the mix, School Board President
Bill Kanyuck said the board is going to have to make some
difficult decisions. There is only so much wiggle room in
the budget.
"Our hands are tied," Kanyuck said.
Aside from increasing property taxes, other avenues the
board could take include doing away with courtesy busing,
increasing class sizes and ceasing afterschool use of the
buildings.
Art, music, technology and world languages are also
areas that could be tweaked.
Much of the discussion during the forum was dominated by
the topic of courtesy busing -- as was the case in the
previous two forums.
For several years, the School Board has gone back and
forth on the subject, as have residents. Some push for its
elimination, saying the money spent could be better used for
instruction.
Others are adamant that it remains, saying the students'
safety would be at risk otherwise.
State law mandates that districts provide transportation
to students who travel more than two miles to school. Any
transportation within two miles is considered a
"courtesy."
In previous years, Brennan said school officials
considered cutting courtesy busing as a means to lessen
costs and reduce taxes. This time, he said, it's being
looked at as a way to save programs.
This school year, about 500 of the district's 851
students -- nearly 60 percent -- are courtesy bused at a
cost of $132,019, school data shows.
The School Board told parents Wednesday that it is
trying to find a way the district can keep courtesy busing
for those who want it and shift the cost to them, not all
taxpayers.
Those who attended the forum weren't totally against the
idea. Several said they would pay.
Kanyuck said the board has made no decisions yet and
will not have answers until it knows how much state aid
Greenwich is set to get for the 2005-06 school year.
"What I do know is that we're going to have more input
from the public," Kanyuck said. "We will do what the public
wants us to do."
School Board member Chris Wittmann urged residents to
write their state legislators about repealing the new law
restricting spending.
Wittmann said he's been told by legislative aides that
as few as 10 letters or emails on one subject will get a
lawmaker's attention.
"Think of what 50, 100 or 1,000 would do," he said.
Reporter Linda Lisanti can be reached at 610-258-7171 or
by e-mail at llisanti@express-times.com.
© 2004 The Express-Times. Used with
permission.
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