Apr 23, 2013 3 min read

MAPLETOWN – Southeastern Greene School Board approved a 2013-14 budget Monday that proposed no increase in property taxes.

The $10,301,650 budget is about $337,000 greater than the current year budget, business manager Pat Sweeney said. Most of the increase in spending will go toward the district’s contribution to the state school employee pension plan, he said. The district’s contribution will increase from 8.5 percent to more than 16 percent next year.

The budget will fund all existing programs. Revenue is expected to remain fairly level compared to the current year, Sweeney said.

Property taxes in the proposed spending plan remain at 21 mills. The district also is expected again to offer a break to those who pay taxes early by setting the discount rate at 7.5 percent, Sweeney said.

In other business, the board hired Lee England as a school police officer for the remainder of the school year at $15 an hour. He is the second armed police officer the board hired for the district, one for each school.

Board member Tom Howard again voted against hiring armed officers, saying earlier that he didn’t believe the district needed or should have armed guards in the schools on a full-time basis.

The board approved a software maintenance agreement with Harris School Solutions for $9,101. The agreement covers the district’s financial applications for its general ledger, payroll, accounts payable and personnel.

It approved an agreement with OnHand Schools Inc. for the EdInsight Instructional Management System, a program which handles teacher lesson plans, student data, curriculum and individual education programs. The cost is $13,200 for the year.

The board also approved the purchase of Study Island, a program that supplements teacher instruction, at a cost not to exceed $13,000 for three years.

The board hired Breanna Scears as varsity volleyball coach and Adrian McCreary as the assistant volleyball coach for the 2013-14 season.

The board approved a number of field trips, including a trip by the third grade to Greene County Historical Society; a trip by the sixth grade to Nemacolin Woodlands Resort for outdoor activities and team building; a trip by the fourth and fifth grades and academic league to the Duquesne Incline and a Pittsburgh tour; and a trip by about 50 students studying Spanish to the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant in Morgantown, W.Va.

They also included a trip by about 43 high school students to Whiteley Creek to study water quality issues; a trip by the seventh grade to Carnegie Science Center and Sarris Candy; a trip by the fifth grade to Mepco mining facility; and a trip by students in grades three through six to a Washington Wild Things baseball game.