 8,022 students
 EHS
 Eyer
 LMMS
 Alburtis
 Jefferson
 Lincoln
 Macungie
 Shoemaker
 Wescosville
 Willow Lane
2,607
833
1,040
342
268
410
476
714
618
714

 Approximately 1,000 employees
 720 Special Education students
 259 Speech & Language Special Education students
 426 Gifted students
 Operating Budget of $120,804,396
 High performing
 High expectations
 Well-rounded (academics, arts, athletics)

 126 students from East Penn are enrolled in cyber charter schools
 164 students from East Penn are enrolled in bricks and mortar charter schools
 108 children are home-schooled
 There has been a 280% growth in cyber charter students in the last five years
 There has been a 713% growth in bricks and mortar charter school students in the last five years

 Project Based Learning
 STEM
 E-FOLIO
 Digital Media
 Digital Course Creation
 Cyber Learning
 SAS
 Keystone Exams

 Mobile Computing/Personal Devices
 Smart-boards/Overhead Projection Units
 Wireless
 Moodle/Google Docs
 Parent Access
 Infrastructure
 24/7
 Online Instruction and Blended Approach
 Reduction: Student to computer ratio from 8 to
4 per student

 Senior Citizen Advisory Committee
 PAC
 Chamber of Commerce/Rotary
 Gold Card Access
 District Facilities
 Community Education Program
 Students Giving Back
 Cops n’ Kids
 Develop Products for the Borough
 Musical Performances
 Good Causes (Autism, Cancer, Food-drives)
 Student Service Clubs





 59% Salaries and Benefits
 13% Debt Service
 9%
 7%
 5%
Other Educational Agencies
Pupil Transportation
Budgetary Reserve
 5%
 2%
Other Expenses
Utilities

 Transportation costs are about $6,000,000
 Total Operations and Maintenance costs are budgeted at about $11,110,000
 Debt Service payments are $15,531,295
 Cyber charter and regular cyber school tuition payments are just over $3,000,000 (district does get about 22% of that back a year later)

 East Penn has 14.86 students per faculty member while the state average is 13.2
 East Penn has 211.1 students per manager while the state average is 163.4
 East Penn has higher faculty and manager per pupil levels than the Suburban school district averages and for districts with an Aid ratio of .4115 or less
 79.4% of East Penn’s professional staff have a
Master’s Degree or higher
Source: PSBA

 2010-11 Budget Facts
 77.2% of revenues come from local sources
 22.0% of revenues come from the State
 0.7% come from the Federal Government

 Real Estate
 Interim Real Estate
 Public Utility Reality Tax
 Earned Income Tax
 Real Estate Transfer Tax
 Delinquent Real Estate Tax
 Interest on Investments

Total Expenditures Per ADM-Rank Order
Salisbury 42 $16,425.55
Southern Lehigh 68 $15,228.08
Catasauqua
Northwestern
94
146
Northern Lehigh 222
Parkland 246
$14,719.45
$13,794.80
$12,848.18
$12,643.61
East Penn 281
Whitehall-Coplay 313
Allentown City 445
$12,287.79
$12,082.83
$10,814.69
Source: PDE

 Northern Lehigh
 Northwestern Lehigh
 Catasauqua
 Allentown City
 Salisbury
 East Penn
 Southern Lehigh
 Whitehall-Coplay
 Parkland
64.373
50.660
50.560
45.592
45.445
45.320
45.300
44.720
38.270

 Residential
 Apartment
 Agriculture
 Vacant
 Commercial
 Industrial
 Institutional
 Governmental
83%
2%
2%
1%
8%
4%
0%
0%

 2008-2009 4.4% (District stayed at index)
 2009-2010 4.1% (District stayed under at 3.9%)
 2010-2011 3.9% (First time District sought exceptions...
Qualified up to 5.1%-Final budget in at 3.8%)

 Specific areas in which costs exceed the index
(1.4%)
 Ten (10) Areas
 Districts must complete calculations and submit on forms developed by PDE
 PDE approves and sets the amount of the exception
 Exceptions are legal and part of Act 1
 Go to PDE and type in Act 1 Exceptions to learn more

 January 24 th - Board votes to stay within index or not
 If the vote is negative, then the Board will vote on a
Preliminary Budget on February 14th
 February 21 st - Preliminary Budget is submitted to PDE
 February 24 th - Deadline for publishing intent to file for exceptions
 March 3 rd - Deadline to seek exceptions from PDE
 March 28 th - First Draft of Proposed Final Budget is submitted to the Board
 April 11 th - Board Discussion of Proposed Budget
 May 9 th - Vote on Proposed Final Budget
 June 13 th - Vote on Final Budget

 Administration downsizing
 Curtailment of non-instructional employee hours
 Energy consortiums/Lighting
 Willow Lane is a LEEDS school
 Boiler work
 Roofing work

 Refinancing Debt
 Leasing LMES
 Partnerships
 Green Computing
 Transportation
 Re-bid Benefits/Employee Contributions
 Sadly, arrested increases in department budgets
 Introduce and implement our own cyber school
 Increase Access Billing

 Over the past twelve (12) years, the district has refinanced existing debt and saved $7,981,000 in those transactions.
 The district saved $484,128.64 by refinancing bond sale on January 24 th ,
2011.

 Potential for rapid growth
 Growth in special category students
 Lagging revenues
 Tax assessment appeals
 Direction of State and Federal Funding
 Unfunded mandates
 Can’t happen in East Penn and a lack of awareness that there are no simple solutions
 Misinformation

 Muhlenberg College/Morning Call
Statewide Policy Poll
Education Finance Questions
February 2010
 Frequency Report
 Number of Interviews: 450 Adult Pennsylvanians
 Margin of Error: +/- 5% at a 95% level of confidence.
 Fielding Dates – February 8 – February 22, 2010
 Method Of Interviewing: Telephone
“Many Pennsylvania school districts are facing significant budget problems. In order to balance school district budgets please indicate if you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the following policy options”

Require students to pay a fee for extracurricular activities such as sports and clubs.
Increase the size of classes to reduce the number of teachers that the school district will need to employ.
Reduce the range of course offerings to reduce the number of teachers that the school district will need to employ.
Increase local property taxes to provide school districts with the financial resources to maintain their current curriculum and programs.
Strongly
Support
13%
4%
6%
9%
Somewhat
Support
21%
13%
16%
20%
Somewhat
Oppose
14%
13%
17%
14%
Strongly
Oppose
49%
68%
56%
55%
School districts should be consolidated.
18% 27% 15% 27%
Not Sure
3%
2%
5%
2%
13%

 Review and analyze each department budget
 Review personnel at all levels and in all labor groups
 Calculate Retirement Differentials
 Review all revenue projections
 Meet with all governmental agencies to determine potential for revenue
 Decipher signals from State and Federal sources
 Calculate Kindergarten enrollment
 Calculate Transportation needs

 Review all special needs programs
 Develop an internal list of potential cuts based on the following:
 Vision Statement
 Mission Statement
 Strategic Plan
 “Education is our core business”
 Defining “needs as opposed to wants”
 “Make do with” decisions

 Budget Newsletter (Electronic)
 Blogs and Electronic Updates
 Selected Online Videos
 Press Releases (Emmaus Patch, East Penn
Press, Morning Call Blog)
 Board Meetings
 PAC
 Online survey (ideas on new revenues and cost savings)

 School Information
 Dashboard
 Annual Report
 Budget Book (charts, statistics, accounts)
 Senior Citizen Tax Relief
 Board Policies/Meeting Minutes
 News

 AASA ( www.aasa.org
)
 NSBA ( www.nsba.org
)
 PSBA ( www.psba.org
)
 PDE Website
 Phi Delta Kappa (latest Gallup Poll)
 Credo Report (Stanford University)
 Diane Ravitch
 Auditor General Wagner’s Report on Cyber
Charter Schools and Recommendations
 Federal Education Plans (Blueprint for Success and Federal Technology Plan)

 Center for American Progress
 Vouchers
 School Choice
 School Funding
 Teacher Evaluation Systems/Models

 Nicole Bloise, Community Liaison
 Phone: 610-966-8335
 Located in the Administrative Offices –
800 Pine Street, Emmaus, PA 18049