Letter: Wissahickon School Board, It’s Time for a Change

Editor's note: the following Letter to the Editor was submitted by Shirley White, of Blue Bell. If you would like to submit your own letter to the editor, email it to keith.heffintrayer@patch.com.

To the Editor:

Wissahickon School Board… It’s Time for a Change.

The Wissahickon School Board has a fiduciary responsibility to its taxpayers yet, with declining student enrollment and increasing senior population, it continues to move forward with plans to build a new high school without an explanation of how we are going to pay for it through the life of the debt and without voter approval.

Some board members have claimed that an annual debt payment of $4.5 million can come from operating funds, but looking at the preliminary 2013-14 budget, it is only balanced by using approximately $4.5 million of fund balance, which totals $18 million. Using $4.5 million annually for the debt service, the fund balance will be depleted in approximately 4 years. Then what?

Most construction loans are paid over 20-plus years. Look no further than Upper Dublin, as they are proposing to cut programs, staff and co-curricular programs due to their construction debt.

The facilities study estimates the total cost of a new high school to be at least $90 million, with an additional 20-percent in consulting fees that few on the board mention. Note, the existing capital projects in the seven other district buildings are approximately $49 million over the next 10 years.

According to Wissahickon’s financial consultant, if the district can afford an annual repayment of $4.5 million, it can borrow $90 million, yet, that’s not enough to do the entire high school project, let alone the other seven buildings’ maintenance.

Further, the district is facing significant increases in its contribution to the state retirement fund (PSERS), ranging up to 27-percent for the next 20 years, with additional escalating healthcare premiums. The administration has recommended budget cuts during the last couple of budgets and the board has disregarded their advice.

The numbers are not adding up. The majority of the board appears to be living in the moment with total disregard for our taxpayers and ultimately, our students. On May 21, join me in sending the message that we need a board that is fiscally responsible and practices long-range planning.

Dump the incumbents; let’s put four new faces on the board in Sherri Becker, Joe Honeycutt, MaryAnn Noon and Ron Stoloff.

Sincerely, 

Shirley White 
Blue Bell

Subscribe to our free daily newsletter | Follow us on Facebook | Follow us @AmblerPatch