The Panther Valley School District has asked area legislators and municipalities to support its grant applications to help cover the cost of needed school upgrades and a new school building.

Lansford Borough Council last week approved letters of support for the district, which hopes to secure grants of more than $28 million for the projects.

Earlier this year, a feasibility study recommended the district replace its aging elementary school with a kindergarten to fifth grade building, relocate its seventh and eighth grades to the intermediate school and do upgrades at its high school.

These projects are dependent on the district securing grants, as well as increased funding from the state, its business manager Jesse Walck said this week. No additional tax burden will be placed on taxpayers, he said.

The district also needs the state to come through with additional funding, Walck said.

Panther Valley and other poor districts sued the state over its school funding formula, and the Commonwealth Court ruled the state’s funding system was unconstitutional more than a year ago.

The state Basic Education Funding Commission narrowly agreed on a plan in January, and now state legislators have to implement it, Walck said. The plan would increase basic education funding each year for seven years, he said.

The district has heard nothing form Harrisburg regarding the funding, Walck said, and that could be either a good sign or a bad one.

The only thing the district has heard is that there will be an increase, but not how much, he said, and that the state budget may be late.

So, the district is moving forward with as many grants as it can with some coming up for board approval on Wednesday night, he said.

“We have a great plan,” Walck said. “We’re going after a lot of money.”

The district is also seeking letters of support from Summit Hill, as the district’s main school complex and proposed new building are in the borough; Carbon County; state Sen. David Argall; State Rep. Doyle Heffley; U.S. senators John Fetterman and Bob Casey, and U.S. Congresswoman Susan Wild.

Projects include: $1.1 million for intermediate school improvements; $5 million for high school renovations; $2 million to design a new school building; $1 million for internet and computer devices at the new school; $5 million for construction of the new building; and $20 million also in construction of a new building, he said.

The district is moving forward with plans to fund the project with multiple applications, including federal aid, to ensure that local taxpayers aren’t burdened, Walck said.