WHITEHALL, Pa. – The district is attempting to address a roughly $6 million budget deficit in the district’s $110.7 million proposed 2026-2027 spending plan. Superintendent Christopher Schiffert’s proposed budget, approved April 27, features a 4.7% tax increase. The proposed 4.7% tax hike is the highest amount Whitehall-Coplay can raise taxes per the Act 1 Index.
“We have reached a crossroads where our educational aspirations are being directly challenged by our fiscal reality,” Schiffert said April 27 prior to the proposed budget’s approval. “…The district is facing a significant budgetary shortfall.”
Schiffert said the reason for the deteriorated fiscal situation is “complex” and “multifaceted.”
“We are no longer have the luxury of making minor adjustments,” Schiffert said. “…We must consider a significant organizational restructuring.”
During public comment Monday afternoon, one resident said the district’s financial acumen is lacking.
“Whitehall taxpayers like myself are paying for missteps, mistakes, overspending and probably some poor decision-making by the board and administration,” Bruce Charles said. “I don’t have confidence in what’s going on around here.”
One director responded by saying there’s not much they can do.
“We control a very, very small amount of the budget,” Director George Makhoul said. “The items in the budget that we can control is about $10.5 million…Over $70 million in this budget is in salaries and benefits…We try to do the best we can.”
Makhoul said blame rests mostly with state representatives and senators.
“They control how this is funded,” the director noted. “They could easily find a way to get some legislation passed.”
Board President William Fonzone Sr. also said the district’s financial condition is not the board’s fault.
“We’re locked out,” he said.
Fonzone added that he doesn’t take legislation approving taxes, especially on senior citizens, lightly.
The president also noted that substantive changes will not be made in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until the situation deteriorates further, which he predicted will almost certainly occur. He touted a system called Common Level Ratio. This system would update property tax rates to reflect current market conditions by adjusting assessed values to approximate fair market value.
On May 26 directors approved a reorganization plan featuring furloughed, reduced, demoted and eliminated staff positions. The proposal cut dozens of positions. The cuts include a biology teaching position, MTSS Math teaching position, three elementary STEM teaching positions, and a Middle School STEM/Industrial Arts teaching position would be cut.
Whitehall-Coplay’s plan eliminated 12 secretarial positions, two from each of the five buildings and the education center. The resolution further indicates employee duties would be redistributed among the remaining staff and administration.
Additional cuts involved six paraprofessional positions due to program reductions. A maintenance position would also be axed with the duties reallocated to maintenance staff. Still further cuts in the plan involved eight building substitute positions across the district. Finally, some district employees would be retained but demoted.
During that meeting, some district residents questioned why administrative positions were not included. Makhoul responded to those statements Monday afternoon that position is fueled by ignorance.
“Cut admin, OK, what does that mean to you,” Makhoul said Monday afternoon. “What admin do you want to cut? Do you want to cut principals?”
He blamed “misconceptions” for the public’s ignorance and said they were “confused” primarily by administrative “name changes” which infer there are more administrators than there actually are.
Makhoul said it was “a real possibility” next year Whitehall-Coplay could be in an economic furlough.
“We don’t enjoy it. We don’t want to make people’s lives harder, but those are the realities of where we are at,” he said.
A presentation during Monday afternoon’s committee meeting indicated the job cuts and other measures decreased expenditures from the original proposed budget by $3.6 million. This has reduced the shortfall from an original $9.3 million figure to a $5.6 million amount.
The cuts also reduce the fund balance amount Whitehall-Coplay will need to spend to close the remaining budget gap from $6.8 million on April 27 to $3.1 million today for a $3.6 million savings.
The proposed property tax increase continues a district trend. The 2025-2026 spending plan included a 4.6% tax increase on Whitehall-Coplay property owners. The district’s 2024-2025 budget featured a 4.5%, tax increase, with the 2023-2024 spending plan containing a 2.59% tax hike.
Typically, the district has a special board meeting after the committee meetings to formally approve the next year’s budget. It was announced Monday afternoon the 2026-2027 budget will now be approved at the regular board meeting June 22.