Palmerton Area School District expects a net gain in several state funding categories this year but will lose a revenue source the administration had already budgeted for, officials said during a financial update at last week’s school board meeting.

Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Facilities Ryan Kish told the board the district will receive more state support in several areas.

“We have increased $124,000 in basic education funding, $59,000 in special education funding and $342,000 in Ready to Learn block grant funding,” Kish said.

The district will also face a shortfall tied to charter school funding. “We did budget for charter school transition funds that we received last year in the amount of $196,000,” Kish said. “Unfortunately, this was not included in the state’s budget this year.”

He said the budget legislation contains some updates related to charter schools.

“There were some language changes in the budget bill regarding charter schools, but not really enough to impact us financially.”

The state budget was over four months late beyond the June 30 deadline.

Kish noted Pennsylvania will soon begin its next budget cycle.

“We’re going to be going through all this again soon as the governor will present his next budget in February,” he said.

He added that it is a gubernatorial election year, “meaning it’s less likely we’re going to have budget issues this time,” though he acknowledged that “we know every few years legislators play these games with state funding.”

While many districts struggled during the budget delay, Kish said Palmerton remained stable.

“Thankfully, we did have a strong fund balance that allows us to breathe easy,” he said. “Other districts took out loans or threatened to shut down if no budget deal was passed, but Palmerton remained in strong financial shape.”

The district also saved money on insurance costs during recent negotiations.

“Our policy was expiring, but I was continuing to negotiate the rates behind the scenes with our broker,” Kish said. “Since our last renewal last month, we have negotiated rates that are $13,000 less.”

The updated premiums approved by the board show reductions in multiple areas, including $10,342 on property insurance; $3,017 on general liability and law enforcement; and $291 on automobile coverage. The district’s total savings from the updated insurance package amounted to $13,650.

The board also received a financial update from Alyson Krawchuk-Boschen, its representative to the Carbon Career & Technical Institute.

“CCTI’s budget is not being increased for the sending districts,” she said. “The school’s overall budget did go up by about $300,000 from last year, but there will be no increase to any of the school districts.”

Palmerton’s contribution was around $1.5 million in 2025-26.