Phila. Council, District agree on spending $53 million

Officials for the Philadelphia School District and the city council Tuesday agreed on how to spend $53 million that will be raised by a property tax hike.

As officials had promised in recent days, the money will fund yellow school buses, reduced class sizes, accelerated schools and early childhood education.

The district also has been counting on the city's money to cover $11 million in shared costs that aren't related to teaching children.

On Tuesday, the district agreed to make other "adjustments" to its budget to cover that $11 million, thus dedicating all the new city money to educational priorities laid out by Mayor Nutter and Council.

Council is expected to take a final vote to pass the 3.85 percent property tax hike and the overall municipal budget on Thursday. After Tuesday's meeting, those measures appeared headed for passage without much controversy.

"Basically, all of the priorities will be intact and funded," said Lori Shorr, the mayor's chief education officer, who attended the meeting. "I don't anticipate any problems on Thursday."

Four Council members - Marian B. Tasco, Maria Quinones Sanchez, Blondell Reynolds Brown and Wilson Goode Jr. - attended the meeting, held at district headquarters at 440 North Broad St. Several other members, including education chair Jannie L. Blackwell, sent representatives.

The district representatives included School Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr., Deputy Superintendent Leroy Nunery, and chief financial officer Michael Masch.

The vote on Thursday could bring an end to a difficult month of negotiations and debate, since Ackerman asked the city in May to help fill a $629 million budget gap in its $2.7 billion budget.

In the process, the district, the city and the state signed an "education accountability" agreement that gives the city more say in how the district spends money.

While the district is state-controlled, the city provides about 30 percent of school funding. The city and the district are hopeful that the state will restore more school funding when legislators pass a state budget, possibly later this week.

To formualize Tuesday's agreement Archie promised to send a letter to Council President Anna C. Verna detailing the spending plan.

In that letter, he also would agree to regular, possibly quarterly, meetings between the district and Council, Goode said.

Of the $53 million, $26 million would pay for yellow school buses; $16 million to maintain smaller classes in kindergarten through third grade; $8.2 million for accelerated schools which serve students who dropped out or are at risk of dropping out; and $2.7 for Bright Futures, an early childhood education program.

Shorr noted that the district isn't mandated to fund accelerated schools for over-aged students or pre-school programs - but both are considered vital to the city's broader educational goals. She applauded the district for fighting to save the programs.

The total funding for accelerated schools now would stand at $16 million, down from $19 million last year.

With the additional city money, the total funding for Bright Futures would be $11 million for this fiscal year.

To cover the $11 million in costs the district had hoped to hand off to the city, the district would be "looking at cost-savings" in three areas, said Jamilah Fraser, a school district spokeswoman. Those areas include: summer school, special education and facilities. Cuts would come from non-educational areas, she said.

Goode said he was pleased with the meeting and the district's spending plan for the $53 million.

"I think it pays for as much as we could afford," he said. "We know that we've served tens of thousands of students with the programs that we've restored."