Cyber charter schools are free for families, but they cost their local school districts a lot of money.

In Panther Valley, officials say the growing number of families choosing cyber charters during the pandemic is making a difficult budget situation even worse.

“The commercials are misleading. Cyber charter schools are not free,” school board member Renee DeMelfi said.

Panther Valley officials say that the district will have to pay about $3.5 million in cyber charter tuition this year, 30 percent more than the $2.45 million it cost the district in 2019-20.

Under state law, when a student chooses cyber charter education, their local district must pay the tuition. The rates are set by the state.

This year, Panther Valley must pay $8,505 per cyber charter school student. If the student needs special education, that cost climbs to $32,306.

“Our taxes are going up every year because we’re losing money to charter schools,” said Daniel Matika, President of the Panther Valley school board.

Superintendent David McAndrew Jr. said that the district has actually done a good job retaining students compared to others.

Each time the district learns a family is considering leaving for a cyber charter, they contact them to try to keep them in the district.

The district has multiple in-house options which offer online learning for students.

However, Matika said the district still has to do more to get families back from cyber charters - possibly adopting ideas from the cyber charters like offering free internet, or evening classes.

“We’re losing $3.5 million a year. It’s our job to go out there and find how we can get them back,” he said.

Gov. Tom Wolf has called the rise of cyber charters the “privatization of our public schools.”

Some lawmakers have recognized that the pandemic has made the situation worse. A bill introduced over the summer would have prevented cyber charter schools from taking any new students after July 1. Only 11 legislators endorsed it.

Panther Valley has struggled to balance its budget for several years, basically depleting its reserve funds in the process. The district’s 2020-21 budget left no room for unexpected expenses. At the beginning of the school year, it had just $680,000 left in reserves.

McAndrew said despite the challenges, the district has been successful in getting more than $1 million in grants this year.

For the first time, every student received a Chromebook laptop, paid for with the district’s CARES Act funds. Teachers and administrators obtained other grants to implement new reading programs in the elementary school, and purchase all new textbooks for students in grades 6-8.

The district is starting its 2021-22 budget process, and will likely have to budget a large increase for cyber school tuition.

Officials have already identified $340,000 in savings by leaving vacant positions unfilled. But Business Manager Jesse Walck said cuts alone won’t be enough to balance the budget.

“The nature of the budget issues we have here, the reality is we can’t cut our way out of it,” Walck said.