Blairsville-Saltsburg School District - Budget

Budget

In 2009, the district reported employing 180 teachers and administrators with a median salary of $$60,737, while the highest salary was to $88,945.

In 2007, the district employed 137 teachers. The average teacher salary in the district was $56,311 for 180 student days and a total of 184 days worked. As of 2007, Pennsylvania ranked in the top 10 states in average teacher salaries. When adjusted for cost of living Pennsylvania ranked fourth in the nation for teacher compensation. The working day is limited to 7.5 hours. Teachers receive additional pay for extra time worked. They receive a daily prep period and a 30 minute duty free lunch. Additionally, the teachers receive a defined benefit pension, health insurance, professional development reimbursement, paid personal days, 10 paid sick days, and other benefits. In September 2011, the School Board approved a new six year contract with the Blairsville-Saltsburg School District Teachers' Union. It had taken 2 years to negotiate this contract. In the process a state arbitration process fact finding was rejected by the teachers' union.

Blairsville-Saltsburg School District administrative costs per pupil in 2008 was $705.71 per pupil. This spending was in the top 20% of state districts. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association keeps statistics on salaries of public school district employees in Pennsylvania. According to the association's report, the average salary for a superintendent, for the 2007-08 school year, was $122,165. Superintendents and administrators receive a benefit package commensurate with that offered to the district's teachers' union. In 2011, the School Board voted to approve 3% salary increases for administrators, in accordance with the Act 93 agreement, raising salaries to: Eric Kostic $94,363; Joseph Baker $85,487; Tracy Richards $80,077 and Debra Shirley $85,487. Three other administrators received pay hikes under individual contracts: James Brida, director of food services, 2.5 percent increase to $57,471; H. Patrick Rosborough, director of buildings and grounds, 3 percent increase to $60,253; Leigh Free, transportation coordinator/child accounting, 8 percent increase to $58,800. Those three administrators pay 5 percent toward the cost of their hospitalization benefits. Salary hikes of 4 percent each were approved for Superintendent Whitfield to $124,800; Assistant Superintendent Ian Magness to $98,800 and Business Manager Eric Kocsis to $95,380.

Reserves In 2008, the district reported $725,000 in a unreserved-designated fund balance. The unreserved-undesignated fund balance was reported as $2,198,149. In 2010, the unreserved designated fund had risen to $3,020,000.00, while the unreserved-undesignated fund was $2,293,802.00.

In 2008, the district administration reported that per pupil spending was $13,927 which ranked 110th among Pennsylvania's 501 school districts. In 2010, the per pupil spending had increased to $14,298.73 which was in the top 20% among school districts in Pennsylvania.

In December 2010, the Pennsylvania Auditor General conducted a performance audit of the district. Multiple significant findings were reported to the school board and administration. These included: errors in over reporting Pupil Membership and teacher certification deficiencies. The lack of certification was submitted to the Bureau of School Leadership and Teacher Quality (BSLTQ), DE, for its review. On July 1, 2010, BSLTQ determined that the employees were assigned outside their areas of certification; the District is therefore subject to a subsidy forfeiture.

The district is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax 0.5%, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pension income and Social Security income are exempted from state personal income tax and local earned income tax, regardless of personal wealth.