Budget Town Hall

The Governor Mifflin School district allocated $85,023 for school safety and security. This amount includes our school resource officer, which serves all six schools, and our Raptor system which allows us to screen all visitors to our schools. The school board also recently approved the addition of several more security cameras to our buildings, totaling $50,902.

In terms of preventative measures, the district has a Student Assistance Program (SAP), social workers in each building, and uses restorative practices in the classroom to support student mental health. We also have upgraded our HVAC systems and increased school cleaning protocols to keep students safe and healthy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Because the building is not yet built, we cannot say with certainty whether or not a millage increase will be necessary. However, we will not be adding more district events, just changing the location of these events so additional staffing costs, if any, should be minimal.

We expect that there will be additional costs for utilities and supplies, but the district will seek to first absorb these costs within the operations budget or other areas within the budget before a millage increase.

Phase 1 of the building project was to add more efficient energy and HVAC systems to our existing building, so we will also see savings as a result of these upgrades. However, we will not be able to determine the exact savings for a full year. But these savings will limit the additional utility costs with the opening of the new building.

In the 2010-2011 school year, we had a total of 22 administrators; in 2022-2023, we have budgeted for 26 administrators. However, it is important to note that these positions are not necessarily new. Several of our positions have been moved from Act 93 support roles to Act 93 administrator roles over the years. This means that these roles are not new, but have been given additional responsibilities and elevated to administrative positions as a result.

When it comes to comparing district to district, the comparisons are not always clear. Administrative titles and the responsibilities assigned to each administrator vary across districts. However, Governor Mifflin School District has a student-to-administrator ratio of 168:1, which is on par with the state average of 166:1 and Wilson School District’s average of 163:1.

Exact breakdowns for COVID funds received are available on slides 6-13 of the above slideshow and discussed beginning at the 7:30 mark on the above video.

All 4,200 students benefited from teacher professional development, increased safety measures, increased and improved technology, and our hourly teachers. Our social workers are available for all students, but they directly interacted with 1,358 students, with 250 students receiving support. 111 suicide risk assessments were also conducted and several of these students received needed mental health care as a result.

We also used the funds to help stave off learning loss and support student education in the summer months. 1040 students were invited to Summer Success Academy with 252 attendees, Extended School Year was attended by 111 Life Skills students, 116 students participated in credit recovery, and 125 students took additional credits over the summer.

The process for the Summer Success Academy has not changed since last year. Students are invited to register based on their reading and math scores on state standardized testing. Registration in advance is necessary to determine how many staff are needed to run the program.

While invitations are sent to specific students deemed to be in need of the program, no student is turned away and parents may request that their child attend regardless of their performance on standardized testing or in school.

Currently, all students in grades K-4 in need of life skills courses and autistic support attend Cumru Elementary, regardless of what their “home” elementary school might be. Having all K-4 students in need of these support services in one building does not simulate a typical, real-world environment.

We are opting instead to provide autistic and life skills support at every K-4 school. This decision is not budgetary, it is to create a more inclusive environment at each of our schools.

In 2017, the Governor Mifflin School Board hired The Schraeder Group to conduct an evaluation of our high school, middle school, stadium, and Education Center. After a comprehensive tour and assessment, they estimated nearly $40 million in necessary repairs and renovations, most of which would be “behind the walls” upgrades with very little to no improvements to enhance educational programming. As such, the solution of building a community center, which would house our athletic facilities, was raised, therefore freeing up those areas of our middle and high school to be renovated and utilized as educational space.

The first phase involved necessary mechanical, electrical, and plumbing upgrades to all schools as well as other upgrades to bring restrooms and stairwells up to code and ADA standards. We are now on Phase Two of the project, the construction of the building. That construction is set to begin this spring with an estimated completion date of August 2023. After this phase is complete, we can begin Phase Three, in which our existing gym and locker room spaces in our middle and high school will be reconfigured into STEM learning spaces, additional space for our music departments, and other classrooms as needed.

Additional details of this project and financing are explained in the above video around the 1:10:00 mark or can be found here.