With the lack of state education funding, many school districts are taking loans to pay for payroll.
Last night, at its monthly meeting, the Tyrone School Board of Directors, approved a loan from the Capital Reserve Fund to the General Fund to meet the bond payment and the payroll for September 25.
“It became obvious to us that there wasn’t enough revenue coming in to make payroll, so we made the loan to the general fund,” said Tyrone superintendent of schools Dr. William Miller. “Many other school districts have had to go onto the open market to get loans to keep their schools afloat. The board took action after the transfer was made so we could make payroll on September 25. We felt the figure of $2 million was sufficient for the time being. Hopefully in November, there will be a state budget and the general fund will receive the state allocations we have expected. We are very fortunate to be in this situation. The Tyrone School District is financially solvent and in an excellent financial position. Not many schools have the ability to borrow from the capital reserve fund.”
With the ongoing situation over education funding in Harrisburg, Miller assures the residents of the district that the Tyrone schools are fine.
“If we have to, we could borrow from the Capital Reserve Fund to fund the rest of the year,” said Miller. “The Capital Reserve Fund is earmarked for the middle school expansion. There isn’t any major funding for the middle school that is necessary in the near future. The first priority is to maintain operations of the district and that is what we are doing.”
The board also took action on two students who violated the district’s drug awareness policy.
A sophomore was expelled indefinitely and is facing criminal charges after being suspected of coming to school under the influence.
“We had reasonable suspicion on the student and the drug test that was administered bared that out,” said Miller. “For the sophomore student, we filed charges because a pipe was in possession on school grounds. This is a second offense for that student. Last year, the student was under the influence of oxycontin and was in critical condition. This time, the student tested positive for marijuana.”
With the second offense, the student was expelled indefinitely and will be placed in Blair County Day Treatment for the rest of the school year. According to Miller, if the student completes the treatment, the student can re-apply for admission for the 2004-05 school year.
A Tyrone senior was expelled for 20 days for coming to school under the influence. The expulsion is scheduled to end on October 21.
“The student and parents agreed that the student could be tested for drugs at anytime throughout the rest of the school year,” said Miller.
The student is not permitted to take part in any school related activities during the expulsion and is not permitted on school property.
“This is not the end of this problem,” said Miller. “We believe that this is just the beginning. We are hoping to send a clear message to the students that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
