SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The Slippery Rock School Board on Monday passed a $29.4 million preliminary budget that could add two new teachers to the district.

Business manager Paul Cessar initially presented a $29,328,324 budget, which added one teacher.

During public comment, parent Autumn Boylan asked for an additional kindergarten teacher for Slippery Rock Elementary, where there are three kindergarten teachers.

She said parents are talking about the potential of having 77 students registered for kindergarten at the elementary, leading to about 26 students per class.

“This concerns us as parents,” Boylan said.

Cessar later presented the $29.4 million budget, which adds the second teacher.

Board Vice President Greg Angerett asked about the possibility of moving some kindergarten students who would go to Slippery Rock elementary to Moraine elementary in Prospect, where fewer kindergarten students are registered.

Superintendent Kathy Nogay said that could depend on where the students live, saying that the district would have to take into account costs if it has to transport students from areas that the buses do not normally go.

Nogay said the district has an extra fifth grade teacher, which she said could be moved to either first grade or kindergarten, wherever the need is greater.

Board President Polly Shaw said the budget does not mean that the district has to hire a new teacher.

“It just gives us the possibility,” Shaw said.

By passing the preliminary budget, the board is not allowed to exceed that amount in the final budget.

Cessar noted that the budget still has a shortfall that would require a 5.88 mill property tax increase to balance. A mill generates $1 in tax for every $1,000 of a property’s assessed value.

He said the district still is expecting $303,000 from a state Ready To Learn grant as well as $140,000 from a state Accountability Block grant, which could help close the gap. He said potential tax implications will be discussed in June.

The current millage rate is 89.15 mills. The last time the board increased taxes was in 2011, when the tax rate raised from 86.72 mills for the 2011-12 school year.

For the 2013-14 school year, the district started off with an $850,000 deficit, which would have required a 6.5 mill tax increase. In the end, the board passed a $28.4 million budget with no tax increase.

The board has to pass its final budget before June 30. It is scheduled to pass it June 23.