By Chris Barber
Contributing Writer

With four months to go before the adoption of the final budget, Kennett Consolidated School Board treasurer Mike Finnegan announced Monday that the school district is looking at a possible tax increase that exceeds the state limit.

In Pennsylvania, if a school district wants to increase its annual tax rate beyond the Act 1 Index limit for that fiscal year, the board must either request—and be granted—relief based on special education spending or put the request on a ballot for the voters to decide via a referendum.

Finnegan said the district is currently looking at a 4.17 percent tax increase for the 2026-2027 school year.

The average tax bill for the median Kennett Consolidated School District (KCSD) property owner would be $5,000.

Finnegan said that he is hoping to find ways to reduce the expenditures, but this is only the second time in his long tenure on the board that he has not been able to lower that preliminary number while in the second month of calculating.

He said there are still some unknown variables to the KCSD spending plan that might offer a chance to reduce expenditures or boost revenues that would reduce the size of the tax increase. These variables include the state funding the school district will receive based on the state budget once it is approved, a reduction in basic education costs, special education allocations, federal allocations, and the state of facilities and technology, among others.

School board member LaToya Myers said she is sensitive to tax increases, and she wants to work to keep them down as much as possible. She said she knows several families that lost their homes because they couldn’t afford the taxes.

Superintendent Kimberly Rizzo Saunders announced substantial numbers of programs at the kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school levels to recognize Black History Month. She said, “It teaches us that progress is built on creativity, respect and collective responsibility.”

Rizzo Saunders also listed many music honors at the state level and beyond which had been earned by Kennett students.

The school board approved field trips to China and Europe and gave their approval to state (and world if they make it) tournaments to the robotics team.

Rebecca Vietri, the director of teaching and learning, described and received approval on the details of two new courses: Astronomy and Kennett Future Ready.