For the first time in the district’s history, the School District of Lancaster is anticipating expenses of more than $300 million in a proposed final budget approved by the school board on May 18.
The public may inspect the budget via the PA Department of Education’s form 2028 on the district’s website until the board votes to adopt the final budget in June. The board can still modify the spending plan between now and its final vote.
The budget calls for $301.4 million in revenues and $300.8 million in expenses. The balanced budget includes a host of difficult adjustments needed to close what would have been a deficit of nearly $35 million. On May 5, the board adopted a resolution eliminating 92 positions through a combination of layoffs, furloughs and unfilled positions.
The budget also calls for a tax increase of 4.7%, which would cost the average taxpayer an additional $17.28 per month on a single-family home assessed at $166,120.
The proposed budget includes $2.5 million in new spending to open and staff five autistic support classrooms as well as add a speech therapist in response to growing student needs. It also calls for hiring eight special education consultants, giving the district one per school, to support families and teachers in ensuring all students’ individualized education plans (IEPs) are implemented properly and meet students’ needs.
Even after the reductions, the district will still deploy 11 more teaching staff than it did in 2020, as well as 95 additional support staff, though enrollment has declined by more than 600 over the same span. Since 2020, the district has also reduced its administrative staff by nearly 20%.
Additional proposed adjustments can be viewed on the district’s budget page. The budget includes all adjustments marked with a green checkmark or yellow caution sign.
On the revenue side, the budget predicts the tax increase will generate an additional $4.2 million in local real estate taxes. It also uses $8 million in capital reserve and refinances $8 million in the distict’s debt.
The Proposed Final Budget for the General Fund of the School District of Lancaster for the 2026-2027 fiscal year in its most recent form is available at the link below and will be presented for adoption as a Final Budget at a School Board meeting on June 23, 2026. The budget may be amended before final adoption.