DALLAS TWP. — The Dallas School board gave final approval to a 2020-21 budget with no property tax hike at a virtual meeting Monday. The board also made a string of hires for the new school year, and approved a calendar that sets the first day on Aug. 26 this year and the last day on May 28, 2021.
The final balanced budget, approved 22 days before state law requires a final vote, balances spending and income at $41.6 million and keeps property taxes at 13.6338 mills. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value.
The board also approved several resolutions regarding the homestead exclusion, which lets the district use money the state collects from legalized gambling to offset property taxes for home and farm owners. The district determined 5,821 people are eligible for the exemption this year and the amount for each will be $55.84.
The board approved the following appointments: Cassie Silveri as high school math teacher at $40,693 starting salary; Kyley Henry, high school math, at a starting salary of $59,879; Ryan Price, middle school wellness teacher, at $40,385; Melissa Cordaro, Wycallis Primary Center guidance counselor, at $55,355.
Near the end of the meeting, Superintendent Tom Duffy updated anticipated changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
New initiatives at the district campus will include chain link fence, way-finding signage, interior room and corridor labeling as well as additional outdoor Wi-Fi access and surveillance cameras. The district is also testing GoGuardian, software that Duffy said will protect students while using district Chromebooks and help track the computers.
Teachers are undergoing new state-mandated professional development on “trauma-informed education.”
There is a growing effort to have the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association split middle school (seventh and eighth grade) soccer programs into boy and girl teams, which Duffy said the district supports. He noted the current co-ed program draws so many students it’s hard to get all of them play time.
Duffy urged residents planning to enroll children in the fall for kindergarten to check the district website or call with questions. “we are very interested in enrolling kindergarten students next year.” Registration will start online only.
Regarding a return to school in the fall, Duffy said the district is starting “with a look back on remote learning,” Seeking input from “all stakeholders” on what worked, what didn’t work and what should change if the district is required to do more in the future.
And the district is planning other surveys regarding how it should proceed in returning students to school this fall. He urged residents to participate as they are unveiled in the coming weeks.