JEFFERSON TWP — A lockdown drill for the kindergarten through third grades Tuesday at the South Butler School District went “very smoothly,” said Dale Lumley, superintendent.

Lumley made his remarks Wednesday at a school board meeting.

“The students were extremely cooperative,” Lumley said.

The drills teach students how to stay safe during a school invasion. To prepare families for the drill, letters were sent home to parents beforehand. In addition, teachers talked to students about the drill, Lumley said, although the exact day and time were not revealed.

Lumley said the children handled themselves very well. For example, they were told they had to be extremely quiet, he said. In a walk through the building during the drill, “you could hear a pin drop,” he said.

The drill included the district’s two full-time, armed police officers and Saxonburg police, he said.

More lockdown drills are planned this week for the district’s secondary schools, Lumley said.

Other Business

In other business, the district received $43,344, its share of the settlement of a class-action suit against JP Morgan Chase, said Debbie Brandstetter, director of business affairs. The money will go to the district’s general fund.

A letter from the state attorney general’s office said JP Morgan Chase illegally suppressed rates and yields for municipal bond derivative transactions.

Twenty-five states were a part of the lawsuit, Brandstetter said. Numerous financial institutions remain under investigation.

Brandstetter also shared information about state funding the district would receive under Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed 2013-14 budget, released Tuesday.

Under the budget, which must be approved by the General Assembly, the district’s basic education subsidy would increase $126,771, or 1.75 percent, she said. The preliminary figures show it would increase from $7.23 million this year to $7.36 million in 2013-14.

Special education funding would remain flat at $1.43 million, where it has been since 2010-11, she said.

The Accountability Block Grant, which the district has used for technology purchases, also would remain flat at $129,023, where it has been since 2011-12.

Statewide, the Department of Education’s funding is up $338 million, Brandstetter said, but $224 million is earmarked to reimburse districts for their employee pension costs.

For example, the state share of the South Butler’s pension costs has increased from $632,222 in 2011-12 to $887,980 budgeted for 2012-13 to $1.25 million proposed for 2013-14.

The school board also learned that the district received the highest possible score on an audit of its 2011-12 financial statements for the year ended June 30.

Mark Turnley, the certified public accountant who performed the audit, said the district’s fund balance is $5.3 million, 17 percent of the district’s budget. The fund balance, or reserve fund, is slightly higher than the state requires, he said.

The funds are split among $2.5 million in unassigned funds, $1 million designated for capital projects, $1.2 million designated for pension plan increases, and the remainder to balance the district’s 2012-13 budget.

The fund balance has grown by about $300,000 since the 2011-12 school year. If its unassigned funds were any higher, the district would be unable to raise taxes, he said.

The school board already agreed that if it raises taxes at all, increases would not go beyond 2 mills, a state-calculated tax cap. The millage rate now is 93.275 mills and it could increase to 95.275 mills.

For every $1,000 of assessed property value, a 2 mill increase equates to $2.