Lehighton Area School District stands to see a 19.75% increase in its basic education subsidy should Gov. Tom Wolf’s state budget pass as proposed.

While that should make officials in the district’s business office jump for joy, history has them taking a wait-and-see approach.

“Historically state budgets have been passed with about 20-25% of education funding as proposed,” LASD Business Administrator Ed Rarick said during a board meeting Monday night. “The proposal itself is great news, but they are simply words and numbers on a piece of paper without the action of our Legislature to back it up.”

State budget hearings are underway in Harrisburg, but legislators won’t dive into the education numbers until next week. The House of Representatives will hold its appropriations hearing for the Department of Education on March 7, while the Senate will hold its hearing on March 10.

Wolf’s proposal includes an additional $1.25 billion, or 24% more money than last year, for basic education and $200 million, a 16% increase, for special education for school districts throughout the state. Of that, Lehighton would see an additional $1.9 million for its basic education subsidy and another $343,000 in special education funding. The budget also sets tuition at cybercharter schools at $9,800 per student, which he said would save districts a combined $199 million. Currently each district pays a different tuition amount per student based on a formula using a school’s average daily membership.

“State funding has not kept pace with state mandated costs such as PSERS and the increased cost for special education and cybercharter schools,” Rarick said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the time with which we have come to a crossroads in education. Staffing shortages in both professional and support positions, transportation issues, rising costs for goods and services, a substantially more competitive marketplace with escalating wages and rapid increases in learning loss have left our district and others with substantial costs.”

Rarick acknowledged that Republicans and Democrats are divided on the viability of Wolf’s budget. While the Wolf administration has said Pennsylvania could pass the nearly $44 billion spending plan and still have $3 billion remaining, Republicans have argued the state’s long-term financial picture is skewed because of American Rescue Plan money that has to be spent by 2024.

“While we will remain cautiously optimistic while waiting for further information on the state budget,” Rarick said, “we would be ill prepared as a district to expect the governor’s proposal remain intact.”