Northern Cambria school board's budget vote fails

NORTHERN CAMBRIA, Pa. – The Northern Cambria School District board's vote on its 2026-27 final budget and tax hike failed Tuesday due to a lack of majority support.

President Danyelle Hoover, Michael Vasil, Diane Waksmunski and Sarah Wolfe supported the motion, which included a 3.12-mill tax increase to a total of 63.12 mills, while Kevin Krug, Norma Krug and Carol Lieb voted against it.

Christine Phillips was absent from the meeting and Jennifer Zeanchock left shortly before the vote.

"We'll have to have a meeting next week at some point," Vasil said.

That comment came after confirming that the board needs to have a budget passed by June 30 and that it has to be publicly displayed for 30 days beforehand. Hoover added that the board can have an emergency meeting to resolve the issue soon.

According to Pennsylvania statute, a school board must have a majority of the total board vote in favor of a budget. Because there are nine Northern Cambria school directors, but only seven voted due to absences, the motion failed.

Prior to acting on the subject, Business Manager Brandon Ashurst spoke to the board about the work needed to balance the more than $21 million budget.

He said it took him and Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials Business Manager Melinda Stuck, who was hired last year to help, "countless hours" to rebuild the financial document.

Additionally, there was initially a more than $500,000 deficit. Through the retirement of several faculty at the end of the 2025-26 school year and conversations with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency about extending grants through the next school year, among other work, a nearly $200,000 surplus was realized.

The business manager estimated that revenues will be at $21.9 million, with expenditures set at the same rate.

Ashurst supported the millage increase to the Act 1 index, he told the board, because the district needs to increase the fund balance.

Zeanchock asked if the millage hike was needed to balance the budget. Ashurst said it wasn't, but that not increasing the rate would drain the fund balance.

He projects the general fund to hold about $1.2 million for the 2026-27 school year.

"We're living check-to-check, and it's not a way to be a high-performing school," Superintendent Joseph Bradley said. "It's a way to get by, but not be high-performing."

In a related matter, the board approved the retirement of four teachers, two school aides and one head cook during the meeting. Ashurst said the teacher retirements alone save the district more than $300,000 in salaries.

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This story was originally published May 20, 2026 at 6:38 PM.