Harrisburg’s poor policies hit Northwest

First Posted:

After four consecutive years of having the Basic Education Subsidy decreased, cyber school cost increases and currently limited reimbursement from the state with respect to special education funding, the Northwest Area School District is now placed in a position to furlough six exceptional teachers.

Additionally, the district is forced to fund a pension system that continues to increase annually with no help from the commonwealth. The district’s pension contribution increases from 16.9 percent of a teacher’s salary in 2013-2014 to 21.4 percent in 2014-2015. These issues are common for most districts in the commonwealth, but have particularly devastating consequences for Northwest.

The Northwest Area School District has a limited tax base and is not permitted to raise the revenue necessary to keep the district functioning at current staffing levels. The district lost a significant student population of 215 students after the flood and continues to deal with the aftermath. Due to the population decline, these furloughs do not cut curriculum, they do not increase class sizes, and they will have no impact on educational services at Northwest.

It has been nearly 35 years since any building in the district has been upgraded and improved. The board has made an investment in district facilities by stopping the water that runs into classrooms when it rains by addressing paving and parking lot issues at the high school, fixing curbs and sidewalks at the primary school that are virtually non-existent, and replacing single-pane windows with double-pane windows at the intermediate school, which will cut heating costs substantially in the future.

Even after all of the Harrisburg cuts to education, the community has misdirected its efforts on the Northwest Area School Board when, in fact, the residents of the community should be directing their grievances to the state Legislature as well as the governor’s office in Harrisburg. More than 60 percent of Northwest’s revenue comes from the state, and when they continue to cut that revenue, teacher furloughs are the end result.

The board is furloughing teachers in an effort to save Northwest Area School District!

Ronald Grevera

Northwest Area School District