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KINGSTON — A meeting held Tuesday with the intent of informing residents of the financial state of the Wyoming Valley West School District given the state budget impasse and rallying them into action did just that, but it also left attendees frustrated with unanswered questions.
Irv DeRemer, district director of elementary education, welcomed the large crowd that filled most of the Middle School auditorium, explaining that the meeting was called “to give an overview of the financial consequences facing most school districts in Pennsylvania due to the 2015 state budget not being passed.”
A bipartisan budget deal collapsed just before Christmas after House GOP leaders pulled support. That $30.8 billion spending plan would have required a $1 billion-plus tax increase. Republicans subsequently sent a $30.3 billion plan to Gov. Tom Wolf, and he vetoed billions of dollars in subsidies for schools, prisons and hospitals.
School officials across the state have said many districts are in danger of running out of money and closing their doors at some point this year because they have received only a portion of state funding.
DeRemer said the meeting should be a starting point for everyone living and working in the district to join as a “unified team” and work to ensure students “never have their school year interrupted due to a state budget impasse.”
Superintendent Chuck Suppon said the meeting was “not a blame game. We’re not here to point fingers at Republicans or … Democrats or … the governor.”
Suppon said the meeting was called to dispel “rumors and innuendos” about the status of the school district and what will happen in the near future; to establish “the cold, hard facts” about where the district stands financially; and most importantly, “to be unified as a single school district” in sending a message to Harrisburg.
“We must have our voices heard for the sake of our children,” he said.
Suppon said the district will send members of the Parent-Teacher Organization to partner with districts across Luzerne County at a March 21 meeting at Hanover Area Junior-Senior High School that will be live-streamed across the state “to impress upon them the need to have a balanced budget for the state of Pennsylvania.”
The superintendent also said he met with the school board in executive session earlier in the day and was directed “to make sure our seniors graduate on time … and I guarantee you they will leave this school district with a diploma in their hands.”
And, while district finances continue to dwindle daily, “we will be financially solvent until probably the beginning of June,” Suppon said, adding that Business Manager Joe Rodriguez has been meeting with banks “to find out what kind of rules and hoops we have to jump through in case we have to borrow money.”
He noted that state Reps. Jerry Mullery, D-Newport Township, and Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, were there to give an overview of the budget status and answer questions, and that Wolf sent representatives as well — Cassandra Coleman-Corcoran, his Northeast regional director, and Natalie Sabadish, director of Policy for his Office of the Budget.
Both Mullery and Kaufer gave their takes on what led up the budget impasse.
Mullery said the Republican-controlled Senate passed a compromise budget that Wolf would support in December. But the Republican House leader backed out on calling it up for a vote on Dec. 23. Asked why by an audience member, he said he believed it was because House leaders wanted concessions on pension reform and liquor store privatization attached to it.
Kaufer said he’s been told that the compromise budget wasn’t brought up for a House vote because it contained no agreed-upon tax code. Senate leaders thought an increased sales tax would pay for the additional spending, while House members believed an increase in the income tax rate would cover it.
Both agreed that there was too much partisanship and too little compromise among legislators.
Floor votes are set Wednesday on another spending plan advanced Tuesday by the Senate Appropriations Committee. And while Kaufer said he would vote for the plan, Mullery said he would only do so if superintendents from the school districts in his legislative district told him that it would provide them with adequate funding.
“How can I support the state subsidy when it was more in 2009 than what they’re offering us now?” Suppon asked at one point.
To thunderous applause, Valley West teacher Larena Meltzer asked the officials: “What do we have to do to get you all to do your job?”
Mullery suggested that residents check the way legislators voted, voice support to legislators with whom they agree and displeasure to those legislators with whom they don’t. He said residents should also contact House Speaker Mike Turzai and House Majority Leader Dave Reed because they control what is brought to a vote.
Suppon suggested everyone find the Parent Advocacy Network — an initiative of the Pennsylvania School Board Association — online and “become a part of it.”
Some parents worried about whether the crisis would be resolved for the start of the next school year.
Jennifer Foust, of Kingston, said her special-needs son is supposed to be transferred into the school district next year. “What am I supposed to do if the school’s not even going to be open?”
After the meeting, parents Amanda Pagan and Monica Mowery, both of Kingston, said they weren’t pleased when asked their thoughts on the meeting.
“The government shouldn’t do this to our kids,” Pagan said.
“What are our kids supposed to do?” Mowery asked.
They said they planned to sign an online petition and join the advocacy network.
Sixth grader Jason Smith said local legislators should have spoken out more about a funding crisis sooner.
Freshman Garrison Spak said one good thing about the meeting was that it let people know the schools wouldn’t close down before June.
Freshman Nathan Fisher said he thought the schools would eventually close if a budget isn’t passed by September.
They both said they planned on asking their parents to join the advocacy network and contact legislators.
