May 18, 2018 3 min read

Taxes will edge up one-tenth of a mill, an increase of about $10 per average household in Ringgold School District under a new budget approved Wednesday by school directors.

The increase will generate about $150,000 for the district. The 2018-19 preliminary budget, in the amount of $45.2 million, represents an increase in spending of $923,000 from last year.

Business manager and acting superintendent Randall Skrinjorich said the budget increase is from contractual obligations. He added the millage increase is below the index of other school districts in the area.

School director Larry Maura voted against the budget and requested board members work to avoid a tax increase this year.

“I think we could make cuts that won’t hurt any of the programs or personnel. Last year, we had a surplus fund balance. I don’t think we need an increase,” he said.

Skrinjorich said the budget is preliminary, and changes could be made before final adoption. The budget will be on display for 30 day for public review. School directors are expected to adopt the final budget in their meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.

School directors tabled a motion to accept a proposal from HHSDR for the preparation of bidding for stabilization and drainage work on the Ringgold High School Stadium hillside. School director Maureen Ott requested more testing. She added the curbs that were installed at the parking lot helped to alleviate a lot of the water-drainage problems. School directors were in agreement they would revisit the issue after further testing.

Dr. J. Alvi of GeoMechanics said the project does not have to be done immediately, but the problems won’t go away. “You can wait a year, or three years, but it will need to be addressed,” Alvi said.

The Ringgold School Police Department received a 2018 Model Agency award from the National Association of School Resource Officers. Clayton Shell, Ringgold police chief, said the award is a great accolade and shows that the department is doing good things. NASRO provides training and helps secure funding for school safety.

“All of our officers have taken the basic course, six have taken the advanced course, and one of our officers has taken the security course, which enables him to assess security issues in a facility,” Shell said.

As a cost-saving move, the district entered into an agreement with the Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium, effective July 1.

The board also accepted a bid from AVI as the district food serve management company.