BUTLER TWP — Regina Hiler, executive director of the Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School, presented the school’s budget proposal to the Butler Area School District board Monday, Feb. 27.

The vocational-technical school receives funding from each school district it serves to make up its budget. Hiler presented the proposed budget for the 2023-24 school year at a February meeting of the vocational-technical school’s Joint Operating Committee. The budget shows an operating cost of more than $6.51 million, about $207,000 more than the previous year.

The budget share coming from Butler school district is proposed at approximately $2.3 million. For the 2022-23 school year, that share is about $2.2 million.

Several line items decreased in the proposed budget compared to the current year’s budget, including salaries and employee benefits.

Line items that increased in cost in the proposed budget include supplies; property services such as the student information system, solicitor fees and contracted safety and security services; and “other purchased services.” The budgetary reserve also increased from about $85,000 to a proposed $92,000.

School board members each wrote their vote and placed it in an envelope to be opened at a later date, which is standard procedure for voting on the vocational-technical school’s budget.

Butler district superintendent Brian White said more students are attending the vocational-technical school than ever before.

“Those programs don’t work without steel. A lot of consumables are costing more and more; inflationary pressures are costing those programs,” he said. “Ultimately it’s a program that helps those kids get jobs.”

The board discussed but did not pass a proposed change to single-item pricing in the school cafeterias. The biggest price hikes included a 20-ounce Gatorade going from $2 to $3.25, chicken sandwiches going from $2 to $2.75 and kettle chips going from $1 to $1.75.

School board president Jennifer Cummings said she was alarmed at the percentage increases in the prices — a view shared by most of the board members. They voted to remove the change from the agenda to be addressed later.

Heather Bonzo, the district’s director of finance and operations, said the district’s food contractor, Aramark, proposed the price increases, but the school board ultimately has the final say on how much food costs.

“This is part of their budget and where they promise they are going to get us by the end of the year,” she said. “They’re not trying to make money on it; they’re trying to meet their goals.”

White said he plans to ask Aramark administrators to make a presentation at a coming board meeting, possibly the next one, regarding pricing changes.