Governor Shapiro’s proposed budget would raise K–12 funding and add special‑education and safety grants, district staff say

Pat, a district staff member presenting budget analysis to the Scranton School District recovery committee, summarized elements of Governor Josh Shapiro’s Feb. 6, 2024 proposed budget and what it could mean for the district if adopted.

Pat said the governor proposed an approximately $48,000,000,000 general fund budget and that the proposal relied on about $3,000,000,000 in reserves. "The governor did propose a $48,000,000,000 overall general fund budget," Pat said. The proposal includes a $200,000,000 increase in the basic education funding (BEF) formula, roughly $871,000,000 in adequacy and tax‑effort increases, and a $50,000,000 increase specifically for special education. Additional items in the proposal include $50,000,000 for safety and security grants and $100,000,000 for mental‑health funding.

Pat told the committee that the proposed BEF changes would particularly affect districts that fall below an adequacy target; he said Scranton is about $5,000 below that metric and was listed in the 95th percentile of local tax effort in the district’s spreadsheet. Using prior‑year data, Pat presented an estimated local impact "just shy of $17,600,000," and noted the estimate included approximately $576,000 in special‑education funding and an estimated nearly $1,500,000 in cyber tuition savings if a statewide cyber rate were set at $8,000 per student. Pat emphasized these numbers were calculated using earlier data and are approximate.

Pat also identified items not included in the proposal: funding for PlanCon 2.0, minimum teacher‑salary increases, and certain scholarship expansions. He described several grant opportunities the district is pursuing, including applications for safety and mental‑health funding (Pat said the district is applying for a noncompetitive mental‑health grant of approximately $232,000) and a competitive environmental‑repair grant with project caps between $500,000 and $5,000,000 administered through the Commonwealth Financing Authority.

On next steps, Pat said the general assembly must act on appropriation bills and that hearings are scheduled in Harrisburg; the district will monitor developments via PASCO updates and keep the recovery committee informed. Pat also noted Representative Kyle Donahue was on the call and is an advocate for the district in Harrisburg.

No formal district action was taken at the meeting; committee members thanked presenters and closed the session.