SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland School District is set to receive a sizable boost in funding in Pennsylvania’s new budget.
The district will get an increase of $2.4 million over last year, according to a news release from state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-Lehigh.
At Tuesday’s Parkland School Board meeting, Superintendent Mark Madson said he's reviewing whether that figure is accurate, but the district will get more money this year than in previous years.
Madson said while he feels appreciative of the additional funding, he believes it still “falls short."
“But it's a huge investment and a great first step in trying to make sure that we level the playing field not only for Parkland, but for all the schools across the Commonwealth,” Madson said.
How will the money be used?
Madson said any additional funds Parkland gets from the state will go toward reducing the fund balance withdrawal in this year’s budget.
The district had planned to take almost $4 million from its reserves in the 2024-25 budget.
“Our budget wasn't balanced," Madson said. "We were going to pull a certain amount from the fund balance to make sure that budget would be balanced.
“So that's where those additional dollars would be earmarked at this point.”
Board President Carol Facchiano said she thinks using that money to reduce the fund balance withdrawal is a good idea.
“We’d be in a healthier position."Board President Carol Facchiano
“We’d be in a healthier position,” Facchiano said.
The budget also included a 5% tax increase, partially to fund the upcoming building projects in the district. Those include additions for Parkland High School and Orefield Middle School and a new operations center.
Madson said if the district continues to get additional funding, it could help it balance the budget in the future and potentially avoid similar tax increases.
Education funding up statewide
The state’s $47.6 billion budget includes about $900 million more for education, about a 9% increase, plus hundreds of millions more in new subsidies for school construction.
“This is record funding for our local school districts — and it is desperately needed," Schlossberg said in a news release. "Students, families and taxpayers in Parkland and Allentown all benefit tremendously from this budget."
Much of the increase in funding is meant to respond to a court decision that found the state violated the constitutional rights of students by not allocating enough funding to poorer districts.
Allentown School District is slated to get $35.9 million more from the state to address these funding disparities.
