With Pennsylvania’s state budget still unresolved, the Jim Thorpe Area School District is preparing to operate without receiving basic education or special education funding for July and August — and without key federal allocations that have been reduced or delayed.

“We’re not going to receive basic education or special education funding for July and August,” Superintendent Robert Presley said during a meeting Wednesday. “That’s because the state budget hasn’t been approved, so subsidies for things like Social Security and pupil transportation aren’t being released.”

The district also will not receive federal subgrant payments under Title I and IDEA.

“All that money is being held back,” Presley said. “Pre-K Counts funding is also on hold.”

While the district can temporarily rely on its fund balance to meet payroll, the delay creates challenges.

“We can use the fund balance for payroll and other expenses until the state funding comes through,” Presley said. “Unfortunately, some districts don’t have that and have to take out loans.”

The uncertainty comes amid ongoing discussions in Harrisburg over possible reforms to cyber charter school funding and special education cost structures. “We’re still hoping there will be some cyber reform and that it doesn’t get pushed aside again,” Presley said. “There’s also talk about using a tiered funding system for special education, which would be a huge help. Right now, we’re paying cyber schools like the students are tier three, even though they’re not taking tier three students. We’re paying $20,000 to $35,000 per student in some cases.”

Residency verification and truancy enforcement by cyber charters are also under discussion.

“They’re looking at requiring cyber schools to do truancy enforcement and welfare checks,” Presley said. “About 85—90% of the time, students who leave for cyber school aren’t doing it for educational reasons. It’s often because we’ve filed truancy charges or involved Children and Youth. Families don’t like that, so they move to cyber schools, which don’t handle truancy the way it’s supposed to be done. Students might not attend regularly, then turn in all their work at the end of the term.”

Federal funding reductions add another layer of difficulty. The district faced an initial proposal from the federal government to eliminate several Title programs. “The President initially froze and eliminated Title II, III and IV, which would have cost us $160,790,” Presley said.

Title II funding supports classroom size reduction, Title III supports English language learner programs, and Title IV provides other academic support services. “Title IV alone is $47,000,” Presley said.

Pennsylvania joined other states in suing the federal government over the cuts.

“The funding was reallocated after the lawsuit,” Presley said. “We’re still losing about $40,000 from last year in Title I funding, but that’s better than the $160,000 loss we were facing.”

The possibility of future cuts, he added, remains.

Federal changes to free and reduced meal programs are also being considered. “Breakfast will still be available for all students,” Presley said. “But there’s a proposal to raise the poverty threshold for schools to qualify for the Community Eligibility Provision to 65%. If that happens, we won’t qualify anymore and would have to go back to charging for lunch.”

District leaders say they are continuing advocacy efforts in Harrisburg and Washington.

“I meet with senators and representatives, including those outside our area,” Presley said. “I write letters supporting legislation we believe will help schools. Unfortunately, some lawmakers just can’t reach agreement, and that leaves every school in the state waiting for funding. We need the budget completed.”