SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The Slippery Rock School Board approved a preliminary budget Monday night that includes a 3.6 mill increase in real estate tax.

The increase would raise the millage from 92.77 to 96.37.

The proposed general fund budget for the 2015-16 school year is $30.5 million.

The tax rate increase would help cover the salaries of two new employees.

The proposed budget includes hiring one new guidance counselor for the district’s two elementary schools and one new teacher for gifted education and English as a second language.

The district only has one guidance counselor for its elementary schools, which the administration says is inadequate, Superintendent Alfonso Angelucci said.

“You can see the effects that just having one does have on those two buildings. We recognized that with some of the observations and discussions we’ve had with our staff and community members,” Angelucci said.

The role and building for the new teacher has yet to be determined.

The district also plans to install wireless networks in both its elementary schools for $47,731. It will also spend $20,000 for 60 new Google Chromebooks for the new networks.

Both expenses will come out of the district’s fund balance, which is about $4.5 million, said Paul Cessar, district business manager.

The state does not consider technology upgrades to be capital improvements so the district may not use capital reserve funds for the wireless networks, he said.

The district raised its tax rate last year, but before that it hadn’t raised taxes for three years, said board President Polly Shaw.

“At some point we have to catch up and take care of things,” Shaw said.

Under state law, the maximum tax rate increase the district could pass for this year is 3.88 mills, Cessar said.

The preliminary budget sets a ceiling for spending and taxes so the board could still opt to vote for smaller figures, he said.

One mill brings in $133,400 in tax revenue, said Cessar.

A mill generates $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

The board can vote to adopt the budget at its meeting at 7:30 p.m. on June 29 in the middle school library.