The Conewago Valley school district discussed adding personnel and continued a longstanding debate on the elementary school renovations project budget during meetings on Feb. 2.
The board held three back-to-back meetings: a personnel discussion as part of the broader conversation surrounding the Fiscal Year 2026-27 budget, a regular public study session, and a closed executive session to discuss personnel topics.
Business manager Scott Fraser presented the proposed personnel budget and increased staffing plan, with the suggested personnel budget estimated at a total of $62,325,977.79.
If realized, it would be an increase of $3,595,638.45 over the 2025-26 budget.
Fraser said at present, the district employs 498 people to fill 624 positions as some individuals hold multiple positions. Most of the budget – 84% – is used for instructional roles, while the rest goes towards employing administrators, security, maintenance personnel and other staff.
Fraser said Conewago Valley spends about 57% of its personnel budget on wages and 43% on benefits, which is in line with other Pennsylvania districts. It is different than the national average of 61.5% on salaries and 38.5% on benefits due to Pennsylvania districts paying into the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS), according to Fraser.
Medical expenses and PSERS contributions make up the bulk of the benefit expenses.
Fraser said the administration recommends hiring 22 new positions, including 12 teachers and aides who will help with autistic support classrooms.
Additionally, the administration recommends hiring a director of innovation, an administrative maintenance lead, a college career coordinator, two school counselors, two math intervention aides, a Spanish teacher for New Oxford Middle School, a school security officer for Conewago Township Elementary School, and a maintenance employee.
Fraser said the new hires’ portion of the $3.6 million increase to the personnel budget may not be as high as budgeted. He created the budget using a “worst case scenario” where each individual came in at the top of the pay scale for their position and took advantage of family benefits, which are pricier for the district than single-person benefits. Setting the budget at its highest possible point allows for more flexibility when planning.
“This just sets up the district to know there will be no further expense beyond that,” Fraser said. “It is likely and highly probable that we will not hire people at the top of the scale who need family coverage.”
Superintendent Sharon Perry said some of the suggested positions are the district playing catch-up to both its needs and reaching similar staffing in comparable districts.
One example Perry used was the requested director of innovation, who would work with the director of technology but in different areas. The director of innovation would help with rosters and access for students and teachers using educational apps and programs, as well as many other tasks.
“Just for clarification, this is a very common position in school districts of similar size,” Perry said. “So we are behind in that sense that these positions exist in much smaller school districts, that the amount of software and education that happens through these educational apps has dramatically increased that need. It’s one of those positions that we’ve been putting off because we had the priority of getting more teachers into the classrooms and also to have the support services.”
Perry also addressed the two requested maintenance positions. Currently, the maintenance department already has open positions, but Perry said district administration feels another maintenance hire is needed on top of adding an administrative maintenance lead. The lead would help keep on top of maintenance contracts and other tasks.
Currently, maintenance staff often ends up working on evenings and weekends due to being understaffed, according to Perry.
Perry also advocated for adding a Spanish teacher to the middle school, which will reduce classroom sizes and introduce basic Spanish words, Spanish culture and more to students at a younger age.
“Our goal with the Spanish is, we have upwards of 20% of our student population who are Spanish speaking, and from an industry perspective, we’re receiving a lot of feedback that Spanish exposure, cultural understanding, (and) conversational Spanish is really critically important for the workforce in our footprint,” Perry said.
Perry said adding Spanish to the middle school level has been a common request from various areas of the community. She said the vocabulary support of understanding root words would also benefit students.
The board debated the need and financial capacity for adding a middle school Spanish instructor, but no consensus was reached.
During the time for public comment, two individuals criticized the board for the New Oxford Elementary School renovations project, citing their belief in a lack of need as well as budget concerns.
One speaker said the budgeted cost for furniture is too high.
Perry clarified that the furniture fund is 50% of industry standard and will likely come in even lower.
The board debated whether it should reduce or remove the furniture fund, though board president Jeffrey Kindschuh said adjusting it would likely mean delaying the project and holding another Act 34 hearing.
Kindschuh also asked what the furniture budget would be changed to and how that figure would be determined, though no suggestions were made apart from removing it and determining need later.
The second public speaker said he feels the district is overspending on additional space beyond what it needs, voicing distrust in future student enrollment projections.
Perry said that while future enrollment is a factor, an increased amount of special education students who require new spaces is another. Perry also said the age of the buildings was the main reason the board began the projects.
The district is in the process of renovating and expanding Conewago Township Elementary School as well as NOE.
“Both of these projects are very, very tight projects,” Perry said. “They are not exorbitant. They’re not the Taj Mahal.”
The board agreed to have additional discussion about the NOE furniture budgeting during its regular board meeting next week.
Upcoming meetings
The board will hold a regular public meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 9 in the district board room.
An Act 34 hearing for New Oxford Elementary School is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 12 in the NOE cafeteria.
The board will hold a finance and budget meeting from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17 in the district board room.
The athletic subcommittee will meet from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19. It was initially postponed due to the recent winter storm.
