SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The 2025-26 academic year will not start until Sep. 4, following the Slippery Rock School Board’s approval of the calendar for the upcoming year.

The academic calendar was presented to the board at its regular meeting Monday night, Jan. 27. According to superintendent Alfonso Angelucci, the start of the year was pushed back much later than usual to give time for high school renovations.

“Renovations are expected to continue throughout the fall,” Angelucci said. “We just want to give them as much time as possible.”

The board passed the schedule unanimously.

In other news, Justin Vancheri of Hosack, Specht, Meutzel & Wood attended the meeting to discuss audited financial statements from June 30, 2024 — the end of the previous year.

Vancheri said no issues were found with the budget for the 2023-24 year.

“It’s a good budget. You have a very realistic understanding of your revenue figures,” Vancheri said.

One of the biggest gaps in the 2023-24 budget was related to a $350,000 shortfall in revenue, which business manager Paul Cessar was able to address.

“One of our biggest taxable businesses failed to pay their taxes for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years,” Cessar said. “I spoke to the owner, and he was unaware of the delinquent taxes. He has since already paid for the 2023-24 year and is expecting to pay for 2024-25 by March.”

Looking ahead, the board approved a resolution that ensures the district’s taxes for the next year will not increase over the state-determined index.

Cessar explained that the district cannot raise taxes beyond the 4.9% index rate, roughly 5.3 mills or $775,000 in revenue for the district.

A mill is equal to $1 for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

Board members set the maximum in order to look ahead at next year’s budget. Costs for health care, construction and special education were cited as a continuous challenges for the district, and are expected to be major expenses looking ahead.

The next school board meeting is set for Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Slippery Rock Middle School library.