High Schools - School district launches Web page devoted to budget

Hoping to cast more light on their often-byzantine budget process, Philadelphia school officials late last week launched a Web page devoted to the fiscal year 2009 budget cycle.

By logging on to the school district's home page, www.phila.k12.pa.us, and then clicking on the icon labeled "Budget '08-'09" near the top of the page, the public can find budget documents for both this and for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins July 1.

There's a message board on which parents, teachers and other community members can share opinions on school finances and respond to comments posted by others.

There's a calender listing budget-related events. The dates, times and places of the first-ever regional budget meetings also are listed separately. And those who cannot attend one of the six meetings - which run from Jan. 29 to Feb. 13 - are instructed to click on the meeting they missed to view a video of the gathering.

The decision to create the Web page grew out of last spring's tumultuous budget cycle in which then-Mayor Street, then-mayoral candidate Michael Nutter, parents and students railed against spending cuts made by school officials to address a deficit of more than $100 million.

The deficit now has been pared to $15.6 million, district officials said last week.

"I sat very uncomfortably through those May and June meetings where the parents were so frustrated . . . and I knew that is not where the School Reform Commission or the district wanted to be," said interim district Chief Executive Officer Tom Brady, who has posted a greeting on the Web page.

Brady said he is hopeful the Web page will lead to greater transparency in the budget process, share information and allow residents to help shape budget priorities, and help persuade state lawmakers that the district needs more funding.

Brady said the district's need for greater funding was underscored in November by a state Board of Education-funded study which found that the district is underfunded by about $1 billion a year.

That "costing-out study" showed that across the state, 474 of 501 school districts are underfunded by more than $4.6 billion annually.

The state Legislature has not yet taken action on the study's findings.