Like all Pennsylvania school districts, Neshaminy is faced with the difficult challenge of providing a superior education to our children while staying within state mandated budgetary limits. This makes the challenge of educating our youth even more difficult.

The following is a summary of the greatest challenges facing the Neshaminy School District:

Test Scores

As mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, Neshaminy must demonstrate ongoing improvement in test scores as measured by Pennsylvania’s PSSA’s. While Neshaminy has achieved AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress), PSSA scores are in the middle of the pack when compared to districts around the state. In an effort to improve test performance, Neshaminy’s superintendent, Dr. Louis Muenker, is working with the School Board’s Education Development Committee to change the district’s approach to PSSA preparation.

Well-Rounded Education

A high school education is more than books and tests. We must prepare our children for their future after high school by giving them a well-rounded education. Neshaminy takes great pride in both its core curriculum and extracurricular activities, but it is difficult to maintain a robust educational program in these economic times. District Administration and the School Board are working together to prioritize the programs offered to our students so we can continue providing them with the knowledge, confidence, and critical thinking necessary to be successful in the future.

Facilities, Declining Enrollment

Neshaminy’s buildings are aging, and maintaining them is costly. A recent district analysis identified $40 million worth of repairs that are necessary over the next five (5) years just to bring our buildings up to code. Just as our buildings are maturing, so is our community, and the result is a declining student enrollment. In the near future, the district will have to consider closure of 1 or 2 buildings in order to gain maximum benefit from its available space. While conceptually this is easy to understand, implementing it is a very difficult, emotional task as each community within Neshaminy will likely protest any efforts to close a building in their neighborhood.

Budgets and Spending 

All Pennsylvania school districts must adhere to the state’s Act 1 legislation which governs the budgeting process and restricts spending increases. For the 2011-2012 school year, public schools cannot increase their net spending by more than 1.4% over the previous year’s budget without a public referendum. This places a tremendous burden on school districts who are trying to improve their educational programs because they must do so within the Act 1 limits.

Teachers Contract 

Neshaminy’s teachers have been working without a contract for three (3) years with the primary issues being health care and retroactive pay. Neshaminy’s teachers currently enjoy perhaps the most expensive health care and retirement package in the entire state with no monthly employee contributions, free health care for retirees, and a one-time retirement perk of $27,500. The School Board has attempted to reduce or eliminate some of these benefits while the Neshaminy Federation of Teachers (NFT) has sought to protect what they’ve achieved through the collective bargaining process.