JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley School District may see a smaller tax increase than initially expected. Adjustments to the 2019-20 budget cut a 2.89- mill anticipated increase in the property tax rate down to 1.89 mills.

The adjustments were presented Monday at a school board work session. Board members will vote next week on the final budget, which totals $140,354,419 and includes the 1.89-mill increase.

Members voted last month to grant preliminary approval to the budget, which at the time included the 2.89-mill increase.

At that meeting, officials said the district's expansion in Lancaster, Jackson, Forward and Cranberry townships as well as the growing student body necessitated the tax increase.

“Since we have an enrollment increase, which accounts for the increase of the mill, we need more staff, more teachers,” school board Vice President Eric DiTullio said at the time. “It costs more to take care of these things.”

On Monday, board President Jim Nickel said that since the May meeting officials continued to make adjustments and brought the needed increase down to 1.89 mills.

“It's an evolving process,” Nickel said.

The board will meet again on June 10 to adopt the budget.

Also Monday, the board received the findings of the 2018-19 Seneca Valley School District Random Drug Testing Program.

According to the program, the district's random drug testing average returned a 0.41 percent positive test rate, well below the national average of 2.9 percent.

This shows no increase from last year in the district average, though the national average jumped 0.9 percent from 2.0 percent in the 2017-2018 school year.

Students who test positive for drugs in the random tests are then put in a follow-up program and are tested weekly for five weeks. Of the 18 district students who were placed in the follow-up program, none tested positive for drug use in subsequent tests.

This puts the district follow-up rate at 0 percent, in contrast to the national average follow-up rate of 20 percent.

All positive drug tests were for marijuana. Officials said CBD oil, commonly used in electronic cigarettes, does not contain THC and is not considered a valid excuse for a positive drug test.