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HANOVER TWP. — Luzerne County schools aren’t standing alone against Gov. Tom Wolf in a budget battle that threatens their closure because of a funding crunch.
Hanover Area Junior/Senior High School’s auditorium was standing room only on Monday as representatives from several school districts as well as government officials came together to address rumors of school closings circulating throughout the schools as well as in social media.
Randy Tomasacci, representing the Northwest Area School District, called the impasse “trying times,” but said the school “will make it to the end of June.”
Tomasacci said Northwest took out a $2.8 million tax anticipation note “to get through the crisis” but he noted the district is not purchasing anything and delaying payments to vendors as a way to crunch numbers to keep students in school.
“We can tell Harrisburg we aren’t going to fight alone,” Tomasacci said to the crowd. “We stand together with Hanover.”
Those at the meeting blamed officials in the state capitol, namely Wolf, Speaker of the House Mike Turzai and Majority Leader Dave L. Reed.
State Rep. Gerald J. Mullery, D-Newport Township, told those in attendance that Turzai and Reed are the only two who can call a bill to a vote.
“We need you to make your position known,” State Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Wilkes-Barre, said during the meeting.
If Wolf takes no action on the budget bill by March 27, it becomes law, Mullery said.
Rumors addressed
After the meeting, senior Heather Evan asked Hanover Area Superintendent Andrew Kuhl if seniors will be able to graduate on time because the rumor around the halls of the San Souci Parkway building is that the school can only sustain one more pay period or April 15.
“The school is not closing,” Kuhl responded to the senior. “We intend on the original graduation date.”
Aside from Northwest and Hanover Area, Greater Nanticoke Area also will be able to stay open through the end of the school year — but barely.
GNA Superintendent Ronald Grevera told the plight of his district — 55.5 percent of state revenue (about $6 million) has not come in from the state.
“We rely very heavily upon the commonwealth to give us our revenue,” Grevera said.
Wilkes-Barre Area Superintendent Bernard S. Prevuznak said his schools “may close sometime in May” because of the impasse.
“It’s not fair to the children we love so much,” Preveuznak emotionally said.
Prevuznak said the impasse has made him direct the financial advisor to “prioritize bill paying.”
Hanover Area Business Manager Thomas Cipriano Jr. said final payment date of the six-month TAN the district took out has been pushed back from late January to June 30.
“The interest and fees on this borrowing translates to $167 a school day,” Cipriano said.
Another option school districts have had during the impasse was to take deferments on payments. Hanover Area took a two-month deferment on paying health care premiums totalling $580,000, thanks to the Northeast Pennsylvania Health Trust. Greater Nanticoke Area also has taken advantage of delaying payments to the trust.
Upset parents
It was a relatively quiet meeting until Pashinski told the audience that Harrisburg saw the battle up to four and a half years ago.
Over that timeframe, if various changes changes had been made state laws such as school subsidy distribution formulas and taxation of Marcellus shale gas, it could have meant an additional $2 billion to $3 billion dollars in the state treasury, Pashinski said.
Visibly upset, Wilkes-Barre Area parent Jeri Sue Pierce, a military veteran who just moved to the area, called Pashinski, who was speaking at the time, and others at the table “disgraces.”
“I moved my entire family here not knowing what I was moving my family into,” Pierce said. “A senior (her son) … may not graduate for something you guys have known for four years?”
Hanover Area taxpayer Cindy Dinoski had a simple idea based on other states models.
“Make marijuana legal and tax it,” Dinoski said.
Lauren Austra, of the Wyoming Valley West School District, pointed out her Facebook group — Luzerne County Unified Parents for Education — has over 1,000 signatures on an online petition imploring Wolf to sign a budget.
“We need a budget, and we need a budget now,” Grevera implored.
