Allentown School District\u2019s $514.7 million 2026-27 budget passed 7-2 Thursday, with discussion about whether or not a proposed 2.9% tax increase could be minimized or avoided again dominating the debate among board members.<\/p>\n
Amid questions from fellow board members about the necessity of the proposed 2.9% tax increase, Allentown School Board President Andrene Brown-Nowell and others vehemently defended the measure as necessary to ensure long-term fiscal stability, avoid future layoffs, and continue to invest in construction and facility upgrades.<\/p>\n
Brown-Nowell said facility disparities between Allentown schools and neighboring schools are inequitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t sit down and watch our Black and brown kids walk into these buildings anymore,\u201d Brown-Nowell said. \u201cI can\u2019t. I\u2019m gonna say it. I can\u2019t. They deserve better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Interim Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Cuff and Chief Operations Officer Robert Whartenby have spent previous meetings arguing that a tax increase is necessary to meet the priority needs identified in a recently completed assessment of the district\u2019s aging buildings and outdated athletic facilities.<\/p>\n
Allentown School District officials call for tax increase to fund infrastructure upgrades<\/a><\/p>\n On Thursday, Cuff said the 2.9% tax increase is an acknowledgment that new construction, such as the East Side K-8 campus<\/a> and the Family and Community Resource Center being built alongside a Bridgeview Academy that is also slated for renovations<\/a>, will require the district to borrow money or float bonds.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is going to help to defer some of that increase on our debt service that we are going to incur,\u201d Cuff said.<\/p>\n Board member Nick Nicholoff said he believes the tax increase might not seem like an immediate necessity but that he would prefer to be proactive rather than reactive and to take action that could prevent the district having to consider layoffs in the future.<\/p>\n Nancy Wilt, recently appointed to the board to fill the vacancy created by Ana Tiburcio\u2019s election as state representative<\/a>, said her previous tenure on the board was marred by the layoffs of hundreds of teachers after state funding dropped, leaving her reluctant to prevent the district from proactively raising money to service its long-term investment plans.<\/p>\n Wilt, who also serves as chief of state for state Rep. Peter Schweyer, chairman of the House education committee, reminded the audience that the district supported a lawsuit that ultimately resulted the state\u2019s school funding program being ruled unconstitutional<\/a>. Allentown now draws 70% of its budget from state funds<\/a>, a much higher percentage than neighboring districts.<\/p>\n Wilt said she\u2019d served on the Allentown School Board through years where the district raised its taxes to the maximum level allowable under state law and still faced long-term deficits.<\/p>\n The 2.9% tax increase in the 2026-27 budget is below the district\u2019s Act 1 index for the year, which is set at 5.4%, Cuff said, adding that the district has kept taxes flat for the past three years.<\/p>\n Wilt said she\u2019s concerned that if the district does not raise taxes now, and then finds itself having to spend its rainy day fund to cover expenses, \u201cthen we find ourselves back in the situation we were in when I was on the board the first time, which was trying to fill that hole and not having a pot of money to actually pull from because it had continually been pulled from because nobody wanted to raise taxes.\u201d<\/p>\n Wilt\u2019s comment sparked board Vice President Audrey Mathison\u2019s sole comment during the finance committee\u2019s discussion of the budget, with Mathison responding, \u201cI choose never to be in that situation again.\u201d<\/p>\n Board members Evette D\u2019Amore and Cereta Johnson also defended the tax increase.<\/p>\n D\u2019Amore said she\u2019d never complained about the portion of her own property taxes that go to fund schools, saying, \u201cWe\u2019re educating the children that are going to lead this country in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo we want children leading us that are idiots and can\u2019t think for themselves, or do we want kids who can think for themselves as adults and make decisions, informed decisions, because they were taught how to do research, how to think for themselves?\u201d D\u2019Amore asked.<\/p>\n Johnson said recent deaths of youth have brought home for her the necessity of investing in schools to ensure that students are engaged in a safe learning environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are our kids dying, because they don\u2019t have the resources,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the time in this day and age to say \u2018no, let\u2019s wait another year,\u2019 because in that year\u2019s time, my kids are dying. They\u2019re walking into schools that are not equipped to handle their type of education.\u201d<\/p>\n Mental health facilities are needed, as is investment in the kind of technology that could interest students more than their phones, Johnson said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bigger picture is, we have kids that don\u2019t want to go into these schools. And when they go into the school, they don\u2019t have the resources \u2014 you know why truancy is high? Because they\u2019re bored.\u201d<\/p>\n Board member Dianne Michels, who led the questioning of the budget\u2019s 2.9% tax increase, asked if there was any way to cut expenses rather than raising taxes.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel strongly about the needs of Allentown. I know we have older, much older, 150-year-old buildings that need attention. Can we legally separate out approving the budget versus approving the tax increase? I am not for the tax increase, as much as I know we need it, I can\u2019t in all conscience vote for it, but I would like to approve the budget.\u201d<\/p>\n Cuff and district solicitor Jeffrey Sultanik said there was no way to separate out the tax increase from the overall budget at this stage.<\/p>\n Michels did not propose specific cuts to district expenses, but rather emphasized the rising cost of living.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it\u2019s hard to fill your gas tank, pay your groceries and your mortgage, you know middle-class people are feeling the squeeze, and I feel strongly about that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Board member Denzel Morris supported Michels during the discussion of whether or not a tax increase was necessary. He joined her in opposing approval of the final budget.<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is everyone\u2019s facing very significant increases in their cost across the board,\u201d Morris said. \u201cThey\u2019re facing funding getting taken away for certain programs across the board due to the federal government. So Dianne\u2019s question was, can we find an alternative?\u201d<\/p>\n Board member Zaleeae Sierra did not offer comments during the night\u2019s budget discussion. She did approve the budget, joining Brown-Nowell, Mathison, Nicholoff, Johnson, D\u2019Amore and Wilt.<\/p>\n