SCRANTON, Pa. — By a 5 – 4 vote, the Scranton School Board passed next year's budget with a tax increase of 1.25 percent.
The new budget calls for new positions in the administration. It also has money for more teachers, especially in the intermediate school.
Rosemary Boland, the head of the Scranton Federation of Teachers, cited incidents of violence in calling for an increase in staff.
"We had a teacher so hurt that the doctor in the hospital asked the teacher what kind of animal hurt him. It was not an animal of the forest; it was just a silly little situation in the building where a young student was totally and completely out of control," Boland said.
Even though the budget passed, this is not a done deal. School Board President Ro Hume says the new school board that will be sworn in next month can make changes and possibly eliminate the tax increase.
"It would be possible, 30 days from tonight, for a board to pass a budget with a zero percent tax increase right without any legal penalty or problem. That would be possible," Hume said.
Some candidates who ran and won last week have already gone on record saying they will not vote for a tax increase in the Scranton School District.
The total district budget is nearly $215 million.