HASD budget holds taxes steady

District approves preliminary plan without tax increase despite $3M deficit

HOLLIDAYSBURG -- The Hollidaysburg Area School Board voted unanimously to approve its preliminary budget for the 2024-25 school year with no tax increase despite a projected deficit of nearly $3 million.

The vote was 8-0, with Jennifer Costanza absent. According to the preliminary proposal, the district is facing a $2,724,727 deficit. Projected expenditures are $57,919,293, while projected revenue sits at $55,194,566.

Board member Ying Li voiced concerns with the proposed budget, saying she understood that the district had to approve the preliminary version to comply with deadlines, but said she wouldn't be able to vote to approve the final version next month if it shows the same deficit.

"If a business is in a deficit, they make cuts," Li said. "I think we should do the same."

Li said the district had raised taxes to the Act 1 index in recent years, but still found itself in a similar position. She said the board should perhaps look at areas like the maintenance department or possibly limiting the use of Chromebooks in lower grade levels.

Li also said that amounts submitted by departments and school buildings should not exceed the funds allocated to each of those areas.

"I suggest that in the future, if we have new proposals, we should think about whether it is necessary and whether we can afford it," Li said.

The district business office, led by manager Autumn Fiscus and accounting operations director Stacey Thomas, presented the board in its last meeting with an extremely detailed breakdown in terms of numbers to ensure that the new, mostly inexperienced members had every digit available to them.

At its last meeting, board members asked many questions pertaining to different departments and line items, seeking clarification for numbers with which they weren't familiar.

Board member Michele Luther asked questions during that meeting about the funds allocated to the special education department. Luther clarified her position at Wednesday's meeting, saying she was not suggesting the district make cuts in the special education department or that children with special needs should not be the school district's responsibility.

"Cutting anything from our special ed program is not even on the table," Luther said. "I have used these programs as a parent and as a grandparent. I have grandchildren using these programs currently."

Luther said she wanted to better understand the specific needs of students in those programs to be able to better care for those students as a district. She was called a variety of names after the previous meeting, and received calls to resign as a member of the board. She declined to step down and said she was more motivated than ever to do whatever she could to benefit the school district.

"My care for the student body as a whole runs deep," Luther said.

Luther said prior to this incident, she had been working with the administration to create an anti-bullying program within the district and announced that Tigers Against Bullying would be presented at the June 5 meeting.

"This may all have happened to demonstrate to me and to the community, we all need grace," Luther said. "I have received as much support as I have hate and I am forever grateful to my family, my friends -- new and old -- and teachers."

Third grade teacher Joy Finochio spoke during public comment following Luther's statement, saying the special education department needs more funding, not less. As a mother to a nonverbal autistic son in the district, Finochio advocated for the first autistic support classroom at Frankstown Elementary.

"Fast forward 10 years, the needs are continuously on the rise for students with special needs," Finochio said. "They are definitely not on the decline."

She said teachers and paraprofessionals in the special education department at Hollidaysburg are "overworked and definitely underpaid."

"They never have enough support staff," Finochio said. "We as a district run our support staff and paraprofessionals ragged. The public school special education system is broken."

Addressing the budget deficit, psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Antonowicz said it's a "battle" to keep a balanced budget and still provide the community with the necessary programs and services. He advised the board to think very carefully about how it chooses to close the gap.

"School districts have limited sources of revenue," Antonowicz said. "But you have taxes. As much as one does not want to pay more taxes, as much as you don't want to raise them because people don't like it, you may have no choice."

The board will meet May 22 and June 5 to discuss options for narrowing the deficit and the preliminary budget is available for public comment and review at the district office. The final budget needs to be approved by the June 30 deadline.