Cheltenham finance committee readies final budget vote; district flags $2 million potential savings if state caps cyber-charter tuition

Finance Committee Chair Dan Schultz called the June 10 meeting to order and the committee heard a final-budget overview from district staff, who said the district will present a proposed final budget and proposed tax rates at a special board meeting on June 17.

Staff reported Cheltenham School District’s draft audit shows a $27,900,000 fund balance and that administrators transferred $4,750,000 into a capital reserve after last year’s results. Staff said year-to-date local revenues are about $5,700,000 higher than the prior year while expenditures are about $6,000,000 higher; total expenditures have moved from roughly $111–112 million to nearly $117–118 million through May.

The budget presentation emphasized several drivers of higher spending: contractual increases (including a recently settled contract), rising special‑education placement tuition and services, and a recurring roughly $900,000 operations variance tied to the EPIC setup and HVAC work at Elkins Park. “So, we can confidently lock in our fund balance at $27,900,000, and we were able to transfer $4,750,000 into cap reserve for…