KCSD Board Approves Communication/Fundraising Coordinator
BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP – Acting on a recommendation from the Keystone Foundation, the Keystone Central School Board Thursday night approved the creation of a new position, Communication and Fundraising Coordinator.
The vote to approve was 5-2. Board member Charles Rosamilia was one of two who expressed concerns. He said, “The meeting we had previous to tonight’s board meeting, and the concerns we had financially for the new positions opening up, I just think with those thoughts in mind, in terms from a budgetary standpoint that we are not in a position to afford this.”
Board member Albert Jones supported the proposal: “We haven’t discussed the salary for this position yet. We can afford this and have discussed about the value this position will bring to us.”
Jones said, “The position could be part time, or full time, but that won’t be decided yet. Right now we are looking at the position as a whole and deciding what we should do with it.”
Superintendent Kelly Hastings said the administration strongly supports creation of the position.
The school board was made aware of what lies ahead in the future and it looks to be costly.
Kathy Cook, Senior Account Manager for Benecon Group, said “effective 2018 will be a ‘cadillac tax,’ (part of the Affordable Care Act) which will include a 40% nondeductible excise tax on health benefits, and it will affect all employers within the United States.”
The 40% increase will mean big bucks for KCSD, and with only rough estimates, according to Cook, “We don’t know what’s going to happen. This tax was designed to be paid, and based on an 8% inflation trend it’s estimated you will have to pay upwards of two million dollars by 2025.”
Among other position openings the vacant school board slot will have to remain so for a little while longer. No meeting has been scheduled yet to interview Boise Miller and Jeff Johnston, the two eligible candidates, but acting board president Butch Knauff confirmed a board member will be picked at the board’s next meeting, August 6.
