WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — The Norwin School Board voted to move forward with cutting multiple teaching positions Monday night in an effort to close a more than $4 million funding gap for the 2023-24 school year.
Parents, teachers and community members pleaded with the board to raise taxes instead.
“Please raise my taxes,” Lauren Gomez told the board.
“I beg you to please raise the school taxes,” echoed community member Joan Berresford.
The Norwin School District projected a budget of $85 million for the next school year, while only bringing in around $81.5 million.
“The proposed cuts are counter to what is desired by the greater Norwin community and the district as a whole,” said community member Dianna Gray.
The school board voted to cut two kindergarten teaching positions, a principal for Norwin Online Academy, a gifted education program coordinator, a family and consumer sciences teacher and a music teacher.
The board voted against cutting a technology support staff member and a social studies teacher.
Some meeting attendees called the decisions “political.”
“A small faction of board members made a campaign promise of no tax increases and they’re willing to harm hundreds of students, homeowners and businesses in the process to keep that promise,” said Gray.
Ryan Kirsch, the district’s director of finance and operations, said a 5.3% tax increase, the maximum allowed by law without a ballot referendum, would help to combat rising costs caused by inflation and bring in an additional $1.9 million.
Ryan Lynn, the president of the Norwin Education Association, said not raising taxes will only make the funding gap widen each year.
“The revenue losses of not raising taxes will far outlive your time holding a seat on this board,” Lynn told board members. “If you don’t fund the district with the quality of education these students and families deserve, you’re going to see it fall apart.”
The final budget is set for approval on June 5.
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