Assembly, school board to meet in joint session tonight

PALMER – As they do periodically throughout the year, the school board will hold a joint meeting with the borough assembly today.

And, as is usually the case with these joint meetings, the items on the agenda include most of the most burning issues currently facing the school district.

Two items on the agenda deal with how the borough relates to its school district. The borough, along with the state, is one of two of the main funding sources for the district.

Earlier this year, the district has passed a pledge to “live within its means” while at the same time “requesting a reasonable funding allocation.” Both of those items are on the agenda.

There’s also the long-simmering issue of money left over at the end of the fiscal year. The school district has been required to hand half of that back to the borough. The borough sets that money aside to buy land to build new schools.

But lately that system has come into question, with some questioning whether it spurs wasteful spending at the end of the year as the district scrambles to get rid of money so it won’t have to hand it over to the borough.

And lastly is the school budget — which district administrators have reiterated numerous times lately — is going to involve staff reductions. Along with the budget discussion, the joint body will look at what kinds of actions the district hopes the state Legislature will take.

The meeting is in the upper library at Palmer High School and begins at 6 p.m. The agenda includes a spot for public comment. Neither body can take official action at the joint meeting. The school district will post an audio recording of the meeting to its website in the morning.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.