How much more will area schools get from 2022-23 budget?
Trista Thurston
Trista Thurston/Observer-Reporter
Trista Thurston
Trista Thurston
State funding for local school districts will increase by as much as 14.3% for the 2022-23 school year.
The $45 billion state budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year approved July 8 adds $525 million to basic education funding for K-12 schools – the main stream of state dollars to local school districts – and $225 million for Pennsylvania’s 100 poorest school districts, known as the “Level Up” initiative.
The budget also includes $100 million each for special education, school safety and security, and school mental health services.
In all, the budget includes a $1.8 million boost in education funding.
Every school district in Fayette, Greene, and Washington counties will see an increase in both their basic education and special education subsidies.
In basic education, the increases range from 1.7% in the Fort Cherry School District to 14.3% in the Uniontown Area School District.
Five of the six school districts in Fayette County will receive Level Up money. They include Albert-Gallatin, $651,220; Brownsville Area, $566,385; Connellsville Area, $879,542; Laurel Highlands, $711,397; and Uniontown Area, $855,743.
In Washington County, Charleroi Area School District will receive $461,457, and Washington will get $374,363 in Level Up funds. Southeastern Greene School District in Greene County will receive $151,113.
Dan Bosnic, assistant to the superintendent in the Uniontown district, applauded the increased funding.
“We’re excited to have the opportunities that we will have with the budget increase. We’re looking to use it to improve instruction in our district,” said Bosnic.
The funding increase also will enable Uniontown to provide additional supports for students who were impacted by COVID-19 and the interruption in education that resulted.
“We’re also going into the upcoming school year focused not only on improving academic instruction, but also on meeting the social and emotional needs of our students.”
Central Greene School District Superintendent Dr. Kevin Monaghan said the increase is welcome, although, he said, districts face obstacles including rising costs for transportation, paper, cleaning supplies and more due to inflation, and the strain that charter schools put on school districts’ budgets.
Central Greene will receive $9.2 million in basic education funding for the 2022-23 school year, a 5% increase from last year.
“It is much needed funding from the state,” said Monaghan, who said the district will use the money to address several areas, including mental health.
“The pandemic had an adverse, negative effect on the social and emotional well-being of our students, and we plan on using some of the money from (funding) and ESSER to address that,” he said.
Here is the percentage increase in basic education funding each school district will receive in 2022-23 over 2021-22:
Fayette County
Albert Gallatin, 4.5%; Brownsville Area, 7.4%; Connellsville Area, 6.6%; Frazier, 5%; Laurel Highlands, 10.9%; Uniontown Area, 14.3%.
Greene County
Central Greene, 5%; Carmichaels Area, 4.5%; Jefferson-Morgan, 3.6%; Southeastern Greene, 7%; West Greene, 9.3%.
Washington County
Avella, 3.4%; Bentworth, 5.9%; Beth-Center, 1.8%; Burgettstown, 2.8%; California Area, 6.1%; Canon-McMillan, 9.6%; Charleroi Area, 12%; Chartiers-Houston, 5%; Fort Cherry, 1.7%; McGuffey 2.5%; Peters Township, 6.1%; Ringgold, 4.6%; Trinity, 5.1%; Washington, 9.3%.