In their ongoing effort to minimize the tax increase for 2013-14, the Parkland School District administration will not replace four of nine teachers who are retiring this year.

At the board's March 19 meeting, Assistant Superintendent Rod Troutman reported three elementary and one middle school position will not be re-filled, and one clerical job will be eliminated.

"The class sizes will remain within our guidelines," Troutman said. "They will be at the upper end of our guidelines now, where they may have been at the lower end before."

He said the district will accrue savings by hiring new teachers at lower salary levels to replace the five retirees who reached a higher compensation level through years of experience and work in the district.

Through these measures, Business Manager John Vignone projects savings of $361,028 in salaries and $112,331 in benefits.

Another revenue benefit will come through Parkland's takeover of an intermediate unit class and cost controls implemented by Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21.

These efforts should yield $100,000 for the district.

District Superintendent Richard Sniscak said the board and administration are committed to a 3-percent or less tax increase to provide for a balanced budget of $145,703,589.

In a process that began months ago, district personnel have been making adjustments to bring the revenue gap down from $9 million to $1.5 million.

During a presentation to the board, Vignone described how the latest round of adjustments was compiled.

The plan takes $250,000 from the fund balance, leaving $3,750,000 in that fund after the adjustment.

Vignone also recommends applying $250,000 from the budget reserve to the new budget.

This amount allows wiggle room for unanticipated expenses, Vignone said.

Administrators will continue to seek avenues for another $1.5 million in savings before finalization of the budget.

At the present time, the rate of taxation stands at 14.16 mills, a 4.35-percent increase.

Sniscak offered comments on the matter.

"This budget is very challenging," Sniscak said. "We want to bring in the lowest possible budget and still maintain our programs.

"Our goal is to bring the increase under 3 percent."