Penncrest School Board approves preliminary 2025-26 budget with $525,447 deficit; votes to appeal court ruling

The Penncrest School District Board of Directors on May 12 approved a preliminary 2025-26 general fund operating budget showing a $525,447 deficit and no proposed property tax increase, and the board also voted 5–3 to file an appeal in the court case Bethany Rogers v. Penncrest School District.

The board reduced a previously reported shortfall of about $1.37 million (the administration said earlier in the meeting it had been $1,366,416) to the preliminary deficit figure through a package of proposed expenditure cuts and efficiencies. District leaders told the board that the cuts include an estimated $300,000 in transportation savings after route consolidation, elimination of two high-school positions (noted in the meeting as a PCA teacher and a high-school science teacher), $75,000 in technology hardware reductions and $25,000 in license and subscription consolidations. The administration said the total reductions shown in the package amount to $840,969.

Board members debated the size of the remaining deficit and whether to draw on fund balance. Several directors said they preferred to preserve reserves as a cushion against future uncertainty; other members said the district has a 10-year record of covering deficit budgets without dipping into reserves and urged approval so staff could continue finalizing the budget before the June deadline.

The administration told the board it had not yet received final state revenue figures and that several possible statewide changes — including…