Question 1:
- It seems that staffing and benefits have large increases for next year?

logoStaffing costs are up by 4.9% and benefits are up by 28.9% from last year’s budget (This increases is at the time of the Preliminary Budget presentation. Further refinement of staffing costs will occur before the Final Budget.). While the teachers and administrators assisted the district last year with a series of concessions, contributions, and salary freezes that amounted to over $700,000, there are still contractual and mandated staffing expenses the district must honor. For example, we have requested an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher to provide mandated support for students who are in need of English language learning. Support staff contracts call for adjustments. Teachers who may have been on leave are returning and must be placed in their contracted positions. With that being said, there is still work to be done to evaluate all positions as retirements and leaves occur. This will take place over the next few months.

Question 2:
- Is the district overstaffed?

logoAdministration has eliminated 47.5 positions over the previous two budgets. In this Preliminary Budget, the salary percentage of total budget is at 47.8% (prior to final review). This is the lowest it has been in the past 10 years or more. Administration continues to look for ways to continue to provide a quality program without adding staff.

Question 3:
- Was there growth in student population?

logoFrom 1989 to 1999, student enrollment grew by 808 students or 19%. There was a clear need to staff and classroom space to accommodate the growth. By 2005, the district grew by another 390 students with a 2005 total of an additional 1,198 in student growth. Presently there are 5423 students in QCSD. Click HERE to see the information regarding capacity vs. growth.

Question 4:
- How do the costs per child compare to private schools?

logoIt is difficult to compare the costs of private schools to public school as private schools are not required to adhere to the costly mandates required of public schools such as special education, English as a Second Language, No Child Left Behind, Chapter Four, PA School Code, etc. Keep in mind that QCSD pays for the transportation, nursing services, and remediation of students in private schools. Additionally, private schools do not need to follow PDE regulations such as prevailing wage for construction, adherence to labor laws or agreements, and teacher certification requirements. Private school teachers do not even need a college degree and therefore do not earn as much as masters degree level teachers.

Question 5:
- What is it and how does the current QCSD staff to student ratio compare?

logoCurrent staffing ratios are being calculated and will be posted to the website when completed. Last year QCSD had one of the highest staff to student ratios for teachers and administrators in Bucks County. This means that QCSD has fewer teachers, administrators, support staff, etc., per student than many other school districts in our area. Keep in mind that the staff to student ratio is not the same thing as average class size. Nurses, librarians, counselors, psychologists, and all adults are included in the staff to student ratio, which should not be confused with class size.

Question 6:
- Why don’t you just cut more administrators? How does the number of QCSD administrators compare to other districts?

logoWhen we compared our certificated administrative staffing to other districts in the area QCSD has about one administrator per 228 students compared to the county average of one per 199 students. Central office, department and building administrators supervise teachers and manage student services such as counseling, gifted education, handle legal affairs, manage the total district budget, make sure payroll is met, hire and fire employees, manage all capital construction and school maintenance, and supervise custodians. In addition they provide support and supervision of our schools and are the direct line to parents and the community. These duties are critical and necessary with 11 buildings, 5000+ students and more than 700 part- or full-time employees. These areas have already been reduced (by three positions) through reductions in the past two years. While these areas may seem “lesser in importance than classrooms,” they are the infrastructure needed in order for QCSD to function as an organization and support teachers, students and schools. Despite the popular perception about the percentage of the school dollar going to administration, nationally 9.8% of district expenditures are devoted to school administration. QCSD devotes 5%.

Question 7:
- Shouldn’t the employees pay for benefits?

logoEmployees currently do pay the highest percentage of their benefits costs in the county. QCSD teachers pay a percentage of the premium for their medical insurance. The percentage varies depending on the plan they select and the type of coverage they require. Premium contributions range from 10.9% to 22.31% for single coverage and from 6.08% to 18.1% for family coverage.

Question 8:
- Shouldn’t the employees pay their own retirement?

logoEmployee pensions are not paid by the school district. Pension payments are made by the Public School Employee Retirement System (PSERS). PSERS is a state agency that is not under the control of individual school districts. All school employees (teachers, custodians, secretaries, aides, administrators, etc.) are required to participate in PSERS. Each employee contributes a mandatory 7.5% of each paycheck to fund his/her pension (the rate for employees first hired before 1983 is 6.5%). The District contribution (like an employer “match”) is set by the PSERS board each year. For 2009-10 the employer (District) contribution rate was 4.78%, half of which is reimbursed by the State. The employee contributions, the employer (District and State) contributions, and investment earnings are the three sources of funding for PSERS. Over the past 10 years, employee contributions accounted for 14% of PSERS funding, employer (District and State) contributions accounted for 9% of PSERS funding and investment earnings accounted for 77% of PSERS funding.

To qualify for retirement, a school employee must (1) have 35 years of service; OR (2) have at least 30 years of service and be at least 60 years old; OR (3) be at least 62 years old with any amount of service. The individual’s pension benefit is calculated as (years of service) times 2.5% times (the average of the individual’s highest three years’ salary). As an example, an employee retiring at age 62 with 32 years of service with an average salary of $60,000 would receive an annual pension of 32 years x 2.5% x 60,000 = $48,000. Retired employees purchase medical benefits at full cost. The pension amount remains constant and does not increase for inflation (i.e. there is no automatic COLA like there is for social security). More detailed information about PSERS is available on the PSERS website at www.psers.state.pa.us