A plan to review up to a decades' worth of Reynolds Area School District budgets, audits, loans, and enrollment figures may not have the district's blessing after all.

District residents Frank W. O'Malia and Condit T. North told the school board Monday about their plan to form a task force to explain to taxpayers how the district ended up with a $2 million deficit.

The yet-to-be formed task force would examine the documents and present their findings to the public. One school director described the idea as "excellent."

But their plan seems to run counter to district policy.

"Special audits by special interest groups are not permitted," according to current Pennsylvania School Boards Association policy.

Superintendent Dr. Anthony Trosan said the board can't stop the task force from forming, but said the PSBA would rather the district rely on information from state and local auditors.

"We already have those two reliable sources of information. To create a third audit process is a questionable use of the resources we have," Trosan said.

O'Malia, an engineer and retired board member, said the policy does not apply because the task force isn't doing an audit.

"An audit is when you go in and compare receipts to the books. We want to look at the past, at financial reports. Looking at budgets is not an audit."

"It's senseless to fight about semantics. The bottom line is (the board is) going to cooperate and give us information. The task force is going to go forward," he said.

The task force isn't prohibited from examining public documents describing the budgets, Trosan said, adding "Those are available to anyone upon request."

However, the problem lies with the cost of providing the task force with seven to 10 years of information. Trosan said there's a cost that comes with furnishing information, which "will pile up money-wise for the people making the request."

"To duplicate a line-by-line portion of our budget would cost money," Trosan said.

O'Malia said he knows there's a cost and the task force plans to pay for any copies it requests.

"We'll be able to get the information we need. I don't think it'll be a problem," he said.

Trosan said he plans to work with residents and the school board. "We'll all be looking at the situation," he said.

He said the district's audit policy will be reviewed next month. "My concern is to have as good a budget as we can possibly create for next year and years to come," Trosan said.