The Panther Valley School Board got a look at its 2024-25 budget including the additional funding from the state budget last week.

The district will receive $3.37 million in extra funding from the state, but nearly $2 million of those funds come with strings, or conditions on how to use that money, Jesse Walck, business manager, said.

More than $1.7 million comes in the form of an adequacy supplement, which represents the first installment of money stemming from the fair funding lawsuit, he said.

“This type of increase should continue for the next seven to nine years … if the state passes this each year,” Walck said. “There’s no guarantee that they’re going to do that, but that’s how it should work.”

The state has looked at seven and nine year plans to adequately fund some of the poorest districts in the state, such as Panther Valley, following a judge’s ruling in the fair funding case.

But the district doesn’t have clear guidance on how it can spend the adequacy funding, Walck said.

So far, the district is looking to spend $601,933 on full-day kindergarten, $200,102 on additional business teachers, career readiness and technical education, and $100,337 on a teacher for targeted support for English-language learners.

“None of this is in stone. There’s a lot of questions,” Walck said.

That leaves more than $800,000 in unspent adequacy funds from the state, he said. The district is hoping for more answers on how that money can be spent, he said.

It could mean nine or 10 teachers, Walck said.

The district’s lack of space due to a growing enrollment and lack of additional classroom space could prohibit some of the two dozen allowable uses for the adequacy funds, he said.

“We don’t have any free rooms in the school district,” Walck said. “I can’t add a teacher and put a new class in place, because I don’t have a place to put them.”

Class size reduction is one of the items that district is allowed to spend the adequacy funding on, but can’t due to lack of space. The funding can’t be put toward a new school to add space, either, he said.

Tax equity

The state also gave Panther Valley increased funding for tax equity totaling $247,990. This money also comes with approved uses, Walck said.

One of the uses is mitigating or preventing a mileage increase, which the district can’t use this year as the tax bills have already gone out, he said. The district could use this in future years, Walck said.

Likewise, the district could also use this funding to mitigate assessment appeals in future years, he said.

Walck plans to use the full amount for tax equity toward reduced debt and covering bond payments moving forward, he said.

“We don’t really have much of a choice,” he said. “That’s the only thing we can do at this point. We’ll have that cover our debts in the future. We’ll always have that there to help with the payments, which is a good thing.”

Other uses for the tax equity funds aren’t needed due to existing programs in the district, Walck said.

Other increases

The district will see more than $1.37 million in increased funding that comes with no strings, Walck said.

These increases include basic education funding, $528,562; hold harmless relief, $245,746; special education funding, $367,861; and cyber charter reimbursement, $231,542.

Most school districts in the state received increases in basic education funding, Walck said, and also the hold harmless relief, which is funding to ensure that districts doesn’t lose money from previous levels due to changes in the state’s formulas.

All school districts also saw increases in special education funding, he said. Panther Valley received more than double the $160,000 it budgeted for the coming school year.

The district is also seeing a cyber charter reimbursement which is for general education, while the state is indicating as estimated cyber charter savings that would be specifically for special education.

Not new funds

Walck did not include the estimated cyber charter savings or grants totaling a little less than $500,000 in his total calculation of new funds.

The cyber charter savings, estimated at $328,958, is for special education and comes as a result of a change in the formula the state uses, he said.

“That’s not cash in hand,” Walck said. “It’s estimated savings.”

The district will also see $137,980 in mental health and safety grants, which the district has been receiving and are not new funding, he said. This money was not budgeted, he said.