The School District of Lancaster Board of Directors passed a $279.6 million budget that relies on a significant promised increase in state funding to meet its growing special education needs.
The school board unanimously approved the budget at its meeting on June 18. State law requires school boards to approve budgets before June 30, even though there is no guarantee the state Legislature will pass its own budget by that date.
The district faces a structural deficit, this year about $8 million. In his budget address, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro called for an historic increase in state basic education funding, proposing a $10 million increase for the School District of Lancaster. However, the spending plan needs to clear both houses of the state Legislature, which is not assured. The proposed budget assumes a $7 million increase.
At the same time, expenses only increase slightly over the 2023-2024 spending plan, about 0.02%. That’s because the district used its federal pandemic relief funding, which expires in September 2024, in strategic ways to avoid a “fiscal cliff” that would cause a need for major programmatic changes and/or position reductions.
The proposed budget includes additional spending on services for English Language Learners and students with autism and other special needs. Specifically, the district will add one full-time English Language Development teacher and several ELD paraeducators who will assist in classrooms and provide targeted support for students.
The district is also adding a new autistic support classroom each at Jackson MS, Fulton ES, King ES, and ER Martin school. To staff the classrooms, the district will add one behavior specialist, one speech and language pathologist, four autistic support teachers, and 12 special education paraeducators.
By providing the services onsite the district anticipates saving $320,000 compared to placing students in external programs.
The budget also includes an additional $750,000 in debt service to finance the start of Phase IV of the district’s capital improvement plan. Phase IV is the final phase in the plan, involving the renovation or reconstruction of Burrowes, Carter & MacRae, Hamilton, and King elementary schools, Wheatland Middle School, Phoenix Academy, and the main athletic complex at McCaskey High School. Construction on a new Burrowes ES is underway.
To address a structural deficit of nearly $8 million, the proposed budget raises property taxes by 1.75% and draws down some district reserves. At the new tax rate, the average property in the district (assessed at $165,530) would pay an additional $5.80 per month.
The Proposed Final Budget for the General Fund of the School District of Lancaster for the 2024-2025 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 18, 2024. The budget may be amended before final adoption.