SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — To climb out of a $1.3 million deficit, the Slippery Rock Area School Board made several cuts, including to staffing, yet a tax increase is still expected.

Those decisions came at a school board meeting Monday, May 19, where the board voted to eliminate teaching positions and reduced expenditures related to substitutes by about $20,000.

Accounting for those actions, alongside other cuts, opportunities to save and additional recognized revenue, district business manager Paul Cessar calculated a revised deficit of $511,606. With no other changes, the budget will need a tax increase of 3.46 mills to be balanced.

“Now, when we do the preliminary budget, this sets the bar for expenses,” Cessar said. “When we pass the final budget in June, the expenses cannot increase from what we approved.”

Before voting on the budget, the board voted to eliminate a kindergarten and second-grade teaching position at Moraine Elementary, two support staff paraprofessionals, and the German foreign language position at the high school. It also voted to create a fifth-grade teaching position at Moraine Elementary.

While most of the decisions made at the meeting were unanimous, board member Vito Pilosi voted against the elimination of the second-grade teaching position.

The choices were met with immediate backlash. Several members of the Moraine Elementary PTO spoke, asking the board to reconsider the eliminations.

“For any of you sitting on this board that votes ‘yes’ to the elimination of these teachers and paraprofessionals without stepping foot into a single classroom this entire year … is absolutely egregious,” Holly Flimmer, a parent, said.

After the parents spoke, board President Diane Double took a moment to respond to their concerns.

“I want you guys to know that we don’t take these decisions lightly,” Double said. “Whatever happens, whatever we decide, we’re not up here as uncaring adults. We’re all parents, some with kids in school, some without … We have 2,000 kids in our district, roughly, and we are trying to make the best decisions for them.”

Some board members, such as Greg Schiller and Pilosi, stuck around after the meeting to discuss the staffing changes with the parents in attendance.

The preliminary budget will be posted for public review for 30 days prior to final adoption. The district’s budget is due by June 30.

The next Slippery Rock Area School Board meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on June 2.