Upper Darby committee endorses accelerated Act 1 opt‑out timeline for 2025–26 budget

The Upper Darby School District Finance and Operations Committee on Tuesday, Nov. 26 heard a budget presentation from district staff and agreed to advance an accelerated Act 1 opt‑out resolution to the full board for consideration next week.

Mister Rogers, a district staff member who presented the budget overview, told the committee the state-calculated Act 1 base index for the 2025–26 school year is 4 percent and the district’s adjusted index is 5.8 percent. Rogers said the administration is recommending the board pursue an accelerated opt‑out resolution — a path that commits the board to not increase taxes above the adjusted index — because the administration is “confident that we’ll be able to present a budget below that 5.8.”

The opt‑out recommendation would change the district’s timetable for public presentations and final adoption. Under the preliminary‑budget path Rogers described, the district would display a proposed preliminary budget by Jan. 30 and could ask the board to adopt a preliminary budget in mid‑February. Under the accelerated opt‑out schedule that the administration recommended, the district would present a proposed final budget at the committee’s April meeting, request adoption of the proposed final budget on May 13 and seek final adoption following a June committee meeting and a special voting meeting on June 17, 2025.

Rogers reviewed nine years of local data showing the board has approved tax increases ranging from 0 percent up to roughly 3.01 percent and said the district has averaged less than a 2 percent tax increase over that period. He noted that in the past nine years there were only two years in which the board approved a tax increase that exceeded the base index.

Board members asked about how state and federal funding variability would affect the district’s planning. Rogers said the administration will pursue a conservative approach and stressed that federal funding volatility could force the district to rely more on local revenue or reduce planned uses of fund balance. Director Mohammed and Director Worsavage both raised concerns about tax burdens on families; Rogers and others emphasized staff will present updates during the spring budget process and that the opt‑out path still aims to keep increases as low as possible.

At the end of the committee meeting Rogers asked whether the board had questions; President Fields and committee members indicated agreement to move forward with the administration’s recommendation. The committee directed staff to place an accelerated Act 1 opt‑out resolution on the board agenda at the full board meeting scheduled for next week, where a formal vote would occur.

The committee’s action on Tuesday was procedural: the committee did not adopt a budget or cast a formal vote on an opt‑out resolution. The administration’s recommendation and the committee’s direction together set the public timeline and will determine whether the district follows the preliminary‑budget timeline or the accelerated opt‑out timeline described above.

The district plans additional public presentations and committee updates between December and June; specific dates referenced in the presentation included a display deadline of Jan. 30 (preliminary path), an April committee proposed‑final presentation, a May 13 proposed final adoption request and a June 17 final adoption special voting meeting if the opt‑out path is followed.