Policy Brief of Specific Implications of HB 39 on School Districts
Mars Research & Retrieval Services
June 15, 2006

The previous conference report measure approved May 1st and 2nd designated as a property tax relief plan for Pennsylvania passed by the majority of the House last night after an emotional debate on the floor.

This is the original measure approved by the Senate in early Spring and is known as House Bill 39. This bill now goes to the Governor’s desk and “will be” signed this morning. Expect this passage to be clearly marketed as a victory for the Governor for delivering upon his campaign promises to provide property tax relief to Pennsylvanians despite its minimal effects.

This bill will require school boards to get voter approval for future property tax increases that exceed inflation, except under certain limited circumstances, also known as back end referendum and backend referendum exceptions. Districts will be required to cap increases in taxes for 2006-2007 to the index which is based on a formula that gives the most to districts with the least wealth and the heaviest property tax burdens and will vary from district to district. For example, both Mars Area and Seneca Valley school districts will be required to cap their millage increases to 3.9% according to the index formula. The index percentage is applicable to the district's millage rate and not its revenue.

The index can be accessed on the PA Dept. of Education website which can be found and accessed on the links page of this website.

Hypothetically, if a district has a property tax rate of 100 mils, under the current index of 3.9%, that district would only be permitted to increase its millage rate to 103.9 mils. School districts that cannot balance their budgets with the restricted tax increase will be allowed to seek one or more back end referendum exceptions and if they still are unable to balance their budget, they are permitted to petition the county courts for permission to enable them additional taxing authority. The county courts would have until July 15th to respond to school district petitions.

Furthermore, school districts would also be required to implement installment payments for taxes and a statewide tax force is established to examine school district costs and offer recommendations on how to reduce or minimize these costs. The requirement for school districts to adopt installment payment schedules will be moved back to June 30, 2007.

Participation by school districts is mandatory statewide. In addition, most school districts would be required to hold referendums next year to find out whether voters want to offset additional property tax cuts of at least 25% by increasing local income taxes. Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Scranton will be exempt from the referendum requirements because they already have relatively high wage taxes. This bill repeals Act 72, a similar law that would have divided the slots revenue among the homeowners without regard to age. Most of Pennsylvania's school boards exercised their right under the law to refuse to participate based on the individual local control of that respective district opposing Act 72 for placing limitations on their taxation power amongst other valid and quantitative factors as outlined in the governor's initial plan.

Unlike Act 72, this new bill, would earmark $250 million for special rebates for senior citizens starting next year in 2007. The rebates would be in addition to the property tax reductions for all homeowners that will be available through local school districts using the slots revenue beginning in 2008. The Pennsylvania lottery will be tapped into initially finance a $200 million expansion of the state property tax and rent rebate program for senior citizens allowing an additional 400,000 senior citizens to benefit. The provisions of the legislation addresses Pennsylvanians 65 or older, widows or widowers 50 years or older, and disabled individuals 18 years old or older beginning in 2007. The income eligibility limit for the rebates would increase from $15,000 to $35,000 and the maximum would be increased from $500 to $650 dollars....the costs would eventually be padded by the gaming revenue brought in, limiting the slots money as to how much will be available for other homeowners. The first rebate payments for senior citizens will be based on the 2006 tax payments.

It is crucial for Pennsylvanians to understand, just as with Act 72, this new legislation has nothing to do with providing funding or additional funding for education to school districts across Pennsylvania.....this legislation is all about providing property tax relief to Pennsylvania's taxpayers. Without getting into the politics of the process and keeping focused on the facts, it will be significant for Pennsylvanians to keep this in mind in the coming year, with all the anticipated changes and implications upon school districts across the Commonwealth and then determine for themselves if meaningful property tax relief was achieved and at what cost?

Kimberly D. Geyer, Mars Research & Retrieval Services, June 15, 2006

The following policy brief is a genuine effort to outline the provisions as contained and outlined in the legislative house bill 1968 as sponsored by Representative Robert Godshall and to provide the implications of such legislation upon school districts and its education process across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

It should be noted that Mars students will be beginning school on the 23rd of August as in all previous years....nothing has changed...the ending school year will not be in Mid-May, but, will actually be June 1st. In addition, there are several snow days built into the calendar at the end of May. In the event the snow days are not utilized, the students will be done on May 24th. Education was the ultimate priority in making this district wide decision. As one of nine board members, I strongly believe that we may and hope to see student achievement improve district wide as a result of eliminating the spring break, by unnecessary interruption of the learning process and testing windows as mandated by the State Department of Education. While the WPIAL requires those students choosing to participate in its league to attend practice, as well as, game schedules forcing some families to plan earlier vacation arrangements, the WPIAL had no part of the discussion, or driving force leading to this decision.....neither did mention of a craft show...it was purely education based and focused on the academic schedules of all our students here at MASD, as it naturally should be.

1. Staff Input: It has been communicated to the board and administration by various staff throughout the district that there are two implications to consider both of which are academic based and carry much weight. First, staff indicated they are able to get more production out of and from our students by starting school earlier. Staff indicated through their own professional expertise and data that most students perform better at an earlier start date. Staff want to get in as much ample academic & instruction time prior to the initial testing and assessment window.

2. Administrative Input: It has been communicated by the Administration that parents and families who wish to excuse a student from school whether it be for travel and/or other purposes….will leave and do leave, at any point in time throughout the school year and/or regardless if there is a spring break or not and in some cases, in addition to.

3. Local Control and Local Autonomy of a School District: The Mars Area School District has a policy in place known as #033, under the heading of school board operations which is in accordance with the mandate of the Public School Code Act of 1949 in Pennsylvania which states that all school districts will do the following…. “The Board of School Directors shall annually adopt a school calendar. Distribution of the calendar shall be such that community, staff, and students are so apprised of the dates and the time that school will be in session”.

In the past and at the current date of this writing, all 501 school districts have had the ability to utilize discretion as an individual school district to address the issue of formulating the school calendar on an annual basis based on their local control and the issues implicating their distinct and respective district.

4. All school buildings are currently air conditioned to accommodate students and staff and enhance a comfortable and efficient learning environment during warmer temperature days.

Numerous school districts throughout the Commonwealth are in the process or will be implementing construction projects throughout their respective districts which can ultimately lead to a district making accommodations for students and staff based on their safety and wellbeing causing the school calendar to be adjusted in an effort to provide a more conducive learning environment free from noise, dust, pollution, and potential health hazards. Such a course of action can and has caused start and finish dates to be postponed and/or accelerated as pertaining to the dynamics of that specific school district.

Numerous school districts throughout the Commonwealth are in the process or will be in the process of adjusting their school calendars to meet the demands and mandates of both state and federal testing windows, especially those districts identified for failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress annually. Currently, national policymakers are debating extending the school year as it is and increasing its length beyond the current state mandated 180 days of instruction for various reasons. In addition, the current state and federal testing window is being expanded throughout Pennsylvania with the new science standards being added to the already tested math, reading, and writing standards being tested through the PSSA state assessment. In subsequent years, a new set of academic standards will be added on a continuum to measure core content areas as mandated by the state and federal governments. Science will be the new added content for the 2006-07 school year in which all school districts are mandated to meet AYP requirements based on the results of mandated state and federal testing.

Depending upon the demographics in which one lives throughout the country, as well as, the fact as to whether or not one is privy to air condition, the above statement may be necessarily true to some extent. However, there is no research or data supporting increased nor decreased student achievement as a result of students being inside a school classroom on a sunny and warm/hot temperature day, unless conditions are not applicable to air conditioned facilities in environments prone to high temperatures year round. Most of our educational establishments at the collegiate level throughout our country continue to educate and hold class throughout the summer months despite whether or not there are air condition accommodations for students and staff. This argument is a moot point when furthermore, data indicates that most schools located in the southern region of the country begin school no later than August 1st and can facilitate such a process based on the air conditioned facilities to provide a comfortable learning environment.

What’s at stake here in Pennsylvania? What are the implications of having a “School Start Date Mandated by the State”?

· Loss of local control & flexibility in addressing issues to accommodate one’s own unique autonomy and diversity of needs district wide.
· Transfer of power to a “One Size Fits ALL” Cookie Cutter Approach.
· Unknown academic implications which may adversely affect students and school districts.
· Loss of flexibility in a district’s management of academic time and preparation prior to state and federal testing windows.
· Less Flexibility in School Calendar Contrary to Current Situation with State Mandating Start Time and Finish Time resulting in more restrictive calendar for students, school districts, parents, and families.

That being said, parents should know the legislature's motive for modifying the law to mandate the school start date to after Labor Day has nothing to do with accommodating the education of Pennsylvania's students and/or their academic schedules, but, is rather the result of successful lobbying efforts of the special interest groups representing amusement parks and tourism and recreation industries across the commonwealth pushing the schedule to accommodate their own employment needs pertaining to students returning to school and colleges.

We have Pennsylvanian college students who reside and attend school and colleges in the Philadelphia area but work in the summer months in New Jersey’s recreational and tourist industry in various venues. Pennsylvania parents and policymakers need to implore themselves and ask why would our state mandate policy for the entire state in a more restrictive manner in lieu of local control’s flexibility to accommodate the state of New Jersey’s Tourism schedule? Why would our state allow policy to be created based on various surveys, such as the one outsourced by Mansfield University as indicated by Representative Godshall asking residents of Pennsylvania as to whether or not the school start date should be changed to after Labor Day? Why would Pennsylvania allow themselves to create policy based on surveys and pollsters, even in the event when the legislator has a polling site on his own district’s legislative website?

I have personally communicated with the legislators on this bill, which is currently stalled by its prime sponsor, but, referred out from the House Tourism Committee to whom is chaired by Representative Robert Godshall himself and am advocating and encouraging its return for referral to the Education Committee, as would be appropriate, for review to allow the education establishment and educators to have the opportunity to comment and testify on its implications from an education aspect on our students, as well as, schools.
I will personally continue to monitor the legislation's progress in the coming year.

Pennsylvania residents who are unhappy with their individual school calendars need to inform themselves of accurate information and the facts to the equation. Residents need to exercise prudence in educating themselves of all the implications of this matter ahead of time in allowing them to make the best decisions based on the potential implications as outlined in this policy paper. As parents, each one of us has the right to oversee the direction of our own child’s education and we must do what is in the best interest of our own children, inclusive of ways of accommodating their needs. School districts across the nation struggle with the daily balance of making accommodations when appropriate for individual needs, as well as, collective needs within any given district for students. There is no one size fits all with 501 unique and diverse school districts, yet, policy such as House Bill 1968 contradicts that fact. Districts appreciate having the ability to exercise local control in making case by case individual accommodations when applicable to students providing greater flexibility to the education program in lieu of restrictions being placed on all students and all schools through unfunded state and federal mandates.

Please be assured that the school board has taken all of your concerns and comments into their consideration and will continue to do so in the event of future deliberations and decision-making....while we may be unsuccessful in making everyone happy with the new calendar for the 2006-2007 school year....know that we take our charge seriously and that the calendar was not driven by factors involving the WPIAL, family get away vacations, or the general assembly's indecisiveness, but, by our constant commitment to keep all the students our foremost priority in our decision-making. The calendar process takes place annually, there is no precedent set, it is deliberated based on year to year factors taking place within the school district. The next time frame for deliberation of the new calendar will begin shortly after the 2007 new year at the public board meetings as scheduled ahead of time. As always, the public’s input is greatly welcomed and all perspectives are valued as we work together to provide a quality education for all students within Mars Area School District.

Kimberly D. Geyer
Mars Research & Retrieval Services
www.marsrrservices.com