Financials

The Chartiers Valley School Board approved the final budget for the 2023-2024 academic year at the June 27, 2023, Board meeting. With a total of $76,501,386 allocated, the budget reflects the district’s commitment to fiscal responsibility while ensuring the delivery of high-quality education and a wide range of courses for students.

The Board continuously works to balance financial responsibility and provide an excellent learning environment for students.

While the cost of educating students continues to rise, state and federal funding has not kept up with the increases. This puts more of a burden on local taxpayers. Increases have been seen in health care costs for our employees, the cost of special education is going up, and a recent ruling by an Allegheny County Judge lowered the Common Level Ratio, dropping the District’s local revenue by nearly a half million dollars.

The District continues to provide necessary updates to the facilities, including a new roof and HVAC system in our Primary School. In addition, the athletic facilities are undergoing repairs and updates not addressed during the recent high school renovations.

Following the approval of the 2023-2024 budget, the millage rate is 20.1909. This rate is the fourth lowest among 42 other school districts in Allegheny County.

Chartiers Valley Middle School Named “School to Watch”

Chartiers Valley Middle School has been named a PA Don Eichhorn Schools: “Schools to Watch.” This designation is thanks to the Academic Excellence, Developmental Responsiveness, Social Equity, and Organizational Structures and Processes at CVMS.

“We are thrilled with this recognition for Chartiers Valley Middle School. What an honor to be recognized for our outstanding team and their commitment to helping all students at the middle school level,” says Dr. Johannah Vanatta, Ed.D., Chartiers Valley School District Superintendent.

Chartiers Valley Middle School joins nine other schools across Pennsylvania, earning this recognition. Each school has strong leadership, great teachers who work together to improve curriculum and instruction, and a commitment to assessment and accountability to bring about continuous improvement.

In October 2022, leaders from the Schools To Watch team visited Chartiers Valley Middle School and talked with building leaders, teachers, students, and parents. The team also observed classrooms and looked at achievement data, quality of lessons, and student work.

“The application process was very thorough, which makes the recognition even that much more exciting. The team from Schools To Watch looked at so many different aspects of CVMS and selected us among the ten best in PA—it’s truly an amazing honor,” adds Dr. Michele Welter, Principal of Chartiers Valley Middle School.

In addition to the visit, there is a written application where CVMS leaders demonstrated how they met the criteria.

The recognition is a program developed by the National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform in partnership with the Pennsylvania Association for Middle-Level Education (PAMLE), Duquesne University, Edinboro University, Kutztown University, and the Horace Mann Service Corporation.

CVMS was recognized at the Pennsylvania Association for Middle-Level Educations State Conference in February and nationally with all the other recognized schools from across the country in Washington, D.C., in June. There was also a school-wide celebration in May at the MS.

Schools are recognized for a three-year period, and at the end of three years, they must demonstrate progress on specific goals in order to be re-designated. “Schools to Watch” requires schools to not just identify strengths, but also focus on areas for continuous improvement; thus, the three-year re-designation. The re-designation process is based on the school’s continued growth since its last recognition.