Panther Valley School District Superintendent David McAndrew said there are proven ways to help his students close the achievement gap to students who live in wealthier districts.

But with a negative fund balance, and the highest property tax rates in Schuylkill or Carbon County, the district needs more help from the state in order to provide them, McAndrew testified in Commonwealth Court on Monday.

“When I say we’re broke, we’re broke,” McAndrew said Monday during the testimony.

The second day of a trial in a landmark case involving the state’s formula for school funding consisted entirely of testimony from the superintendent, who was hired last year.

“We have fantastic staff that go above and beyond to do everything they can for their students, students who work hard to accomplish everything they can on a daily basis, a board which has the best interest of students in mind, and taxpayers who are at the point who can’t do it anymore,” McAndrew testified in Commonwealth Court.

Panther Valley is one of six school districts that brought the suit against the governor, legislative leaders, the Department of Education and the state Board of Education. Testimony and arguments in the trial are expected to last for 10 weeks.

The districts, which range from rural to urban, are asking the court to order lawmakers to come up with a new system for funding K-12 education. They want a more level playing field between districts with a large local tax base and a small one.

The suit was filed in 2014, but McAndrew said that the issues which prompted it have continued and worsened due to the pandemic.

McAndrew showed emotion on the stand as he talked about how Panther Valley students miss out on opportunities for support which are common in other districts around the state.

Larger classes mean less academics

Due to its finances, the district can’t afford as many employees as other districts, leading to larger class sizes. Kindergarten teachers have classrooms of 28-30 students and no aides to help. Teachers and faculty end up taking on the responsibilities of multiple jobs.

McAndrew said his experience has shown him that small group and one-on-one instruction are key to helping students stay on track.

“I know the best practices, I know what works, I see what works, and we’re not able to do that because we don’t have the staff,” he said.

Outdated infrastructure, materials

The district also has outdated buildings, and lacks the learning materials of other districts, he said. It couldn’t provide computers for all students until COVID-19 relief funds made it possible.

While other districts can afford textbook series which follow students through multiple grade levels, Panther Valley has old books which often have overlapping material.

Lawyers for the districts presented as evidence Panther Valley’s PSSA scores, as well as statistics on students who achieve college degrees.

In eighth-grade math, less than 5 percent of Panther Valley students got a “proficient” score, well below the state average. The percentage of Panther Valley students who receive a two- or four-year degree within six years of graduation is also below the state average.

Wanting to help students

This school year, the district wanted to offer more courses for high school students to better prepare them for college. The courses were added without any additional teacher positions.

McAndrew said that local taxpayers are funding more than they can bear, and yet the district continues to run into budget deficits.

Taxes go up, courses get cut

To close the gap, the district has made cuts to everything not mandated by the state, including sports and activities.

McAndrew fears that if the district continues to raise taxes, more residents will lose their homes or move from the district.

He added that a tax increase will only serve to offset the revenue lost from the former Silberline facility in Lansford, which was donated to the borough this year, and the impending closing of firetruck manufacturer KME.

“We can’t keep going to these people and say ‘local tax money is going to solve this issue’ - it’s just not feasible,” he said.

He said staff and administrators have worked hard to piece together grants, corporate donations. The district avoided a tax increase this year because it used COVID-19 relief funds on top of making cuts.

One of those partnerships with Ametek, a plastics company with a facility in Nesquehoning, allowed the district to add some social services this year with a family development specialist. But with Ametek recently announcing the sale of its plastics business, that position is not guaranteed past this year.

The district saved some of its COVID-19 money with hopes of staving off more cuts in its next budget. McAndrew said even with that, they could still be faced with having to cut the few remaining sports, as well as art, music and JROTC.

Other districts don’t have to make those choices, he said, and Panther Valley wouldn’t have to if the state had a fairer system of funding education.

“It shouldn’t be what ZIP code you live in, if you’re going to be successful or not. That’s where we are right now, and it’s not fair,” he said.

The trial resumed Tuesday morning. A livestream of the proceedings is available at https://www.pacourts.us/courts/commonwealth-court/commonwealth-court-remote-argument-sessions.