Downingtown Area SD board votes to advertise proposed $301.7 million budget, 3.9% millage increase

The Downingtown Area School District on April 9 approved a proposed 2025–26 general fund budget of $301,682,672 and voted to advertise the plan under the Act 1 timeline, which begins a 30-day period before final adoption.

The proposed budget includes a 3.9% millage increase that district staff estimated would amount to about a $223 increase for the typical Downingtown taxpayer. Administrators said the budget still shows a projected net deficit of about $900,000 for 2025–26 after reductions and reassignments, and the board will revisit numbers before final adoption scheduled for May 14.

District Superintendent Dr. O'Donnell framed the budget vote as a statutory milestone. "So we are at April 9, and, tonight we're gonna ask the board to vote on our proposed budget," Mr. Mattis told the board during the presentation, noting the vote starts the Act 1 timeline.

Why it matters: The budget funds the district's education programs and operations, including a decision to accelerate full-day kindergarten implementation. Administrators said the cost and required new staff for full-day kindergarten are a principal driver of the recommended millage increase and overall staffing needs for next year.

Administrators presented key revenue and expense points. For the current fiscal year (2024–25) the district now projects ending with a $500,000 positive balance, an improvement from an adopted $400,000 deficit and a March projection of a $2.1 million shortfall. That swing reflects revenue adjustments and expense reductions, the presentation said.

On revenues, the district reported that local real estate tax revenues are its largest funding source (about $186 million projected), with earned income taxes and interest earnings among other local sources. State revenues include a projected $20 million in basic instructional subsidy and a proposed $1 million ‘‘adequacy grant’’ in the governor's budget that administrators said is not yet certain. Federal revenue lines cited included IDEA, E-rate, USDA reimbursements for school meals, and Medicaid-related medical assistance — the latter described as having $2.5 million already allocated in Harrisburg for the district.

Administrators flagged recurring assessment appeals as an ongoing risk. The presentation said assessment appeal losses reduced taxable value and will cost the district roughly $900,000 in real estate tax revenue annually.

Staffing and expenditures: Implementing full-day kindergarten will require additional staff, the district said. Administrators earlier presented a range of needed hires of up to 14 teachers and 14 paraprofessionals; at the meeting they reported that, as of the vote, they needed at least eight of those positions. Special education needs described in the presentation included three autistic-support teachers (two at the elementary level and one at the middle level) and an added life-skills teacher at Downingtown West to support students up to age 22. Marsh Creek would receive an assistant principal position in a budget-neutral reorganization that eliminates a dean of students and an academic adviser.

The district said the total cost for newly identified staffing needs was about $2.2 million; it also outlined $1.2 million of planned savings that reduce that pressure. The savings include eliminating an unfilled reading…