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Dr. Richard Fry, Superintendent of the Big Spring School District
Tomorrow marks the second missed subsidy payment from the state to local school districts. The budget stalemate has forced Pennsylvania school districts to prioritize services within their district based on available funds. Districts with healthier fund balances are weathering these challenges differently than those districts with smaller less significant fund balances.
My district, the Big Spring School District located in Cumberland County, does not have a healthy fund balance. Ninety-eight percent of our tax base is made up of residential properties, with a significant portion of that being family agricultural settings. The Clean and Green program that provides tax relief to local farmers already costs the district over two million dollars per year, with no subsidies coming from the state to support this loss in local revenue.
The delay in state subsidies affects Big Spring almost immediately. We anticipate having to borrow money to cover payroll within the next two to three months. This borrowing will essentially be another unfunded mandate on the part of our state government.
As Superintendent of Schools, I am not anxious to move forward with such borrowing, but, more importantly, I can’t imagine having to live with a budget agreement that does not support adequate and equitable funding for all Pennsylvania’s public schools.
So, though tomorrow represents the second missed subsidy payment, more importantly for school districts around the state, the dire concern is not the challenges this lack of subsidy creates for us now, but the devastating consequences that a budget not focused on adequate and equitable funding would create for all districts throughout the state for this year and in the future. Thank you.
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