ADAMS TWP — The $45.8 million preliminary budget passed by the Mars School Board on Tuesday night includes furloughs and slightly larger class sizes.

The 2016-17 budget, if passed in a final version next month, will include the release of three teachers who cover four positions at the elementary, middle and high schools.

The budget, which is up slightly over the current $45.3 million budget, does not include a property tax increase. The tax rate is 99 mills.

Board President Dayle Ferguson said the teacher furloughs are the result of new state Keystone Exam guidelines that require less remediation for students who do not achieve sufficient scores on the exams.

The names of the teachers to be furloughed were not released. However, the affected positions include an elementary reading teacher, middle school math teacher, high school math teacher and high school English teacher.

All four positions were involved with remediation.

Superintendent Wesley Shipley said one maintenance supervisor position also will be eliminated through retirement, and three support staff positions will be cut through attrition.

The district is missing a superintendent of secondary education after the resignation of Matt Friedman in late April, and Shipley said the top administrative positions will be reassessed.

Regarding class size increases due to the teacher furloughs, Shipley said classes will remain manageable.

He said instead of 10 students in some classes, that number will rise into the teens. Classes with nearly 20 students will now have numbers in the low 20s, Shipley said.

“It’s not like we’re going to 30 students in any classes,” he said.

The annual parking fees for student drivers will rise by $25 to $175 next year, Shipley said.

Ferguson said the increase equals less than $1 per day.

The preliminary budget includes new lap top computers for students that feature better instruction functionality, Shipley said.

“They will be a lot more useful,” he said.

Shipley said $41 million will be spent on fixed costs such as salaries, benefits, transportation and special education, and the other $4.8 million is earmarked for other district operations.

He said while the student growth in the district has provided additional revenue, that money has gone to the larger state Public School Retirement System payment owed by the district.

He said continued growth should provide the funding to get the district back on track.

“This was a difficult budget,” Shipley said.

The board is expected to vote June 14 on a final budget.