FALLOWFIELD TOWNSHIP - Real estate taxes will increase by 2 mills for the coming school year and the work week will decrease over the next month.
Both moves, Charleroi Area School District officials said, are aimed at curbing the rising cost of energy.
Meeting in regular monthly session Tuesday night, the school board approved a $19,322,280 spending plan for the 2008-09 school year.
Superintendent Dr. Brad Ferko commended the board and administration for making budget cuts to limit the increase to 2 mills. He said high fuel and energy costs that affect such budget items as transporting students and heating and cooling school buildings were driving the spending plan higher.
Ferko said the budget is "fiscally responsible" because it takes into account such rising costs as special education, transportation and insurance while providing quality education.
"The budget comes with significant cuts," said director Rich Hall.
The district will repay Southwestern Pennsylvania Human Services Inc. $10,900 in real estate tax payments made during the current school year.
SPHS is a nonprofit health agency with offices in the former Montgomery Ward building in Charleroi. The tax payments were collected on that office.
Taxpayers, though, will see some relief from slots gambling in Pennsylvania.
The state Department of Education informed the district it will receive $643,364.57 in gambling tax funds.
That will equate to a maximum exemption of $180.96 for homestead and farmstead owners.
Students will face a nickel increase for ala carte food items in the school cafeteria.
The budget was unanimously approved.
Ferko commended the board for "thinking outside the box" by approving an experimental four-day work week. District employees who work during the summer months will work four, 10-hour days from July 7 to Aug. 1. No work will be scheduled for Fridays during that time, Ferko said.
The four-day work week was previously approved by the Charleroi Education Support Personnel Association.
Administrators will measure the results, looking at energy usage and costs to determine any savings.
Ferko said he will report the findings to the school board.
But not all of the board members believe the plan will yield any savings.
"I don't think you're going to see the savings," director Beth McFeely said, although she did vote for the experiment.
Director Jim Short, however, voted against the four-day work week.
"I'm not quite sure we are going to gain the benefits," Short said after the meeting. "I think it needs to be more thought out. We need a way to measure the savings."
