With contentions still high in the state legislature, and no end in sight for the passage of a 2015-16 budget, the Upper Perkiomen School Board voted to hold onto their money Feb. 11.

        The board agreed, with two dissenting votes from board President John Gehman and Director Joan Smith, that they wouldn't transfer close to $2 million into a more restrictive capital reserve account from the general fund. 

        According to Business Manager Sandy Kassel, that money was a fund balance from last year's budget.

        Kassel warned that, according to a recent facilities study by architects Breslin, Ridyard and Fadero, the district needs more than $18 million in essential repairs to its infrastructure over the next year or two.  That doesn't include a more than $2 million addition proposed for Marlborough Elementary to accommodate that school's current and future population.

        While she said the district could wait without putting money aside for capital projects and one-time expenses for things like building maintenance, construction, vehicle purchases and technology, it really is essential for future planning to keep designating funds for those expenses.

        Director Kerry Drake noted that experts from the PA Association of School Business Officials (PASBO) said they didn't expect a state budget to be passed until November of 2016, when the 2015-16 budget and 2016-17 could be presented together and ultimately passed.

        "This is a long time to be without a budget and there's not a lot of movement and a lot of animosity," said Director Kimberly Baccari.

        "So we don't have a bill due for any of this money and this is a non-reversible transfer?  My thinking is that if we don't have a bill that is due, we might want to hold off until a budget is reached," Drake said.

         "Financially we're in pretty good shape," said Kassel, who explained if the district would run into a money issue, they could always reimburse the capital fund with monies built into the general fund for those types of capital expenditures.

        "If we run out of money from our operating budget, theoretically….if there wasn't another dollar, would the district be able to tap other funds to pay their bills or would they have to borrow money?" asked Superintendent Dr. Alexis McGloin.

        Solicitor Ken Roos stressed that the money transfer was to structure the district's spending so it wasn't cut short in the future for capital expenses.

        Kassel said the district would be in fine financial shape for the rest of the school year if they didn't receive any additional state funding on top of the 45 percent released in late December.

        "If we run into trouble there's going to be a lot of school districts in trouble long before us," she said, noting Montgomery County schools had more money than many others in the state.  "The state has to come up with something somehow; they can't afford to let districts not be able to provide a public education for students.  They can't; they have to come through with something."

        "I don't think we should be spending any money until we know about a budget," said board vice President Raeann Hofkin, asking to table a decision.  "I don't think we should be talking about construction projects right now."

        The vote to table any action passed 6-2.  Director John Farris was absent.

        The board approved, with one no vote from Hofkin, to transfer $80,594 to the same capital reserve account for future replacement of the artificial turf fields at Upper Perkiomen High School.  Funds were designated previously for that purpose based on the life expectancy of the field, officials said.

        In other news, Red Hill resident Lori Pijanowski told the board she was concerned about student safety at the high school after an event Feb. 3 where she said her son was confronted in a classroom.  While she said she was told by the board's solicitor she couldn't detail the event, or violate the other student's privacy by releasing any other details, she insinuated that her son was threatened with violence.  That violence was reportedly also detailed on social media.

        She said a long-term substitute teacher in the classroom where the incident started heard the confrontation and screamed three times but didn't immediately notify an administrator or the school's resource officer, James McFadden.     

        "I think it's really important that you speak to administrators at the high school," she said, stating she was told things "like that don't happen at Upper Perk."  "Where is the plan to take care of my kid and everyone else's?  Do we have a response team?  This is talking about the past, the present and the future and this is serious."  

        The board and administrators didn't immediately respond to Pijanowski's comments and said they couldn't talk about the matter publicly.  Pijanowski said after the meeting she also couldn't elaborate on the incident either.

        Anthony O'Hara of Pennsburg, an athletic Wall of Fame honoree at Upper Perk, later told school board officials he was concerned about the future of Upper Perk's athletics.  According to his statistics, Upper Perk finished tied for last in wins in its league, the PAC-10, with Phoenixville. 

        But most "amazing," he said, was that with much less experience, Upper Perkiomen head coaches are paid the second highest in salaries compared to neighboring leagues.  He said Upper Perk's football coaches were paid $41,000 in 2015, compared to $19,000 for Boyertown's entire staff.

        He asked the board to investigate what Upper Perk is getting for its money in athletics.