Wyalusing Area School District - Budget

Budget

In 2009, the district reported employing 186 teachers and administrators with a median salary of $61,444 and a top salary of $116,022. The teacher’s work day is with 186 days in the contract year. Additionally, the teachers receive a defined benefit pension, health insurance, professional development reimbursement, paid personal days, 10 paid sick days, and other benefits including a retirement bonus. In 2011, the average teacher salary in Wyalusing Area School District was $62,204.43 a year, while the cost of the benefits teachers receive was $17,149.59 per employee, for a total annual average teacher compensation of $79,354.02. According to a study conducted at the American Enterprise Institute, in 2011, public school teachers’ total compensation is roughly 50 percent higher than they would likely receive in the private sector. The study found that the most generous benefits that teachers receive are not accounted for in many studies of compensation including: pension, retiree health benefits and job security.

In June 2012, the Pennsylvania Auditor General conducted a performance audit of the District. The findings were reported to the School Board and the District’s administration.

In 2008, Wyalusing Area School District administration reported that per pupil spending was $$12,076 which ranked 220th among Pennsylvania's 501 school districts. In 2010 the per pupil spending had increased to $13,393.29 Among the states, Pennsylvania’s total per pupil revenue (including all sources) ranked 11th at $15,023 per student, in 2008-09. In 2007, the Pennsylvania per pupil total expenditures was $12,759. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that Pennsylvania spent $8,191 per pupil in school year year 2000-01.

Wyalusing Area School District administrative costs per pupil in 2008 was $615.69 per pupil. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association collects and maintains 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.

Reserves In 2008, the district reported a balance of zero in an unreserved-designated fund. The unreserved-undesignated fund balance was reported as $3,170,464. In 2010, Wyalusing Area Administration reported an increase to $3,697,213 in the unreserved-undesignated fund balance. Pennsylvania school district reserve funds are divided into two categories – designated and undesignated. The undesignated funds are not committed to any planned project. Designated funds and any other funds, such as capital reserves, are allocated to specific projects. School districts are required by state law to keep 5 percent of their annual spending in the undesignated reserve funds to preserve bond ratings. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, from 2003 to 2010, as a whole, Pennsylvania school districts amassed nearly $3 billion in reserved funds.

Wyalusing Area School District faces a challenge in the rapidly rising costs of teachers' pensions. The Administration reports the payment is expected to rise dramatically by 2015. District's mandated pension contribution FY 2009-10, $573,000; FY 2010-11, $616,000; FY 2011/12, $950,000; FY 2012-13, $2.6 million; FY 2013-14, $2.9 million; FY 2014-15, $3 million. The pension payment will consume a large part of the budget necessitating reductions in other areas. The amount school districts contribute to the PSERS )Pennsylvania School Employees Retirement System) is mandated by the state. Overstaffing by retaining teachers even as enrollment declines has exacerbated the pension crisis across the Commonwealth.

The District administration and School Board spend over $20,000 to belong to a variety of organizations including: Pennsylvania School Board Association, Pennsylvania Association for Rural and Small Schools ($940 per year), Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators (PASA) and PASBO - Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials.

Wyalusing ASD is among a group of Pennsylvania public school districts that receive revenues from Marcellus Shale production. Specifically the district leased land to the industry. It received both lease revenue $400,000 and royalties of 20%. The district is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax 1.44%, Per capita taxes $10, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax 0.5%, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. Interest earnings on accounts also provide nontax income to the district. 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 the level of the individual’s personal wealth.