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Berwick Area SD board approves tax-index motion, budget items and cafeteria spend-down plan
Summary
The board voted to stay within the Pennsylvania Department of Education index (4.8%), approved consent budget items (B1–B4) and discussed a proposed cafeteria fund spend-down plan for roughly $450,000 from a fund the administration said holds about $2,000,000.
The Berwick Area School District board voted to limit any tax increase to the Pennsylvania Department of Education index rate — stated in the meeting as 4.8% — meaning the district will not seek exceptions to raise taxes above that index for fiscal year 2026–27.
A roll-call-style polling recorded affirmative votes from named members during the motion (Nesbally, Taylor, Phillips, Hunsaker, Cruz, Yost, Moyer, Lanning and Hess). The chair clarified to new members that the motion does not set a final tax rate for the budget season; it simply precludes pursuing an exception above the index. "If I approve this motion, it means that we could raise taxes from 0% to 4.8, just not a dime past 4.8," a speaker explained during the debate.
On budget consent items, the board moved and passed approval of B1–B4 after discussion. Administrators presented the cafeteria fund overview: Nutrition Inc. (the district's food service operator) has reportedly run in the black, and the district has approximately $2,000,000 in the cafeteria fund. Officials said the fund is restricted to cafeteria-related expenditures and highlighted a proposed spend-down plan that includes about $450,000 in uses the administration recommended; they also noted the district could receive an additional ~$300,000 by year end under current projections.
The board approved routine student trip requests, including overnight and out-of-state band trips that require district approval for overnight travel, and approved a transportation petition. A personnel resignation (Jeremy Clossum as JV assistant varsity boys basketball coach) was added to the personnel list during the meeting packet updates.
The board's actions on taxes and the budget set the parameters staff will use during the upcoming budget season, but the final tax rate and budget line-item decisions will return to the board for later votes.
