A $2.7 million budget deficit in Jim Thorpe Area School District has been slashed to $1.5 million after the state passed its 2024-25 spending plan last week.

Jim Thorpe Business Manager Brian Off said the district would receive an overall increase in state funding from the previous fiscal year of $1.34 million.

This additional funding is distributed across various categories, aimed at bolstering basic and special education, cyber school reimbursements, and grants for school safety and mental health.

According to Off, the district’s basic education subsidy will increase $599,451 and special education funding will rise $49,806.

Additionally, $202,305 is allocated towards cyber special education costs, with a new method of calculating per pupil costs.

“True cyber reform was, once again, put on the back burner, but this is a start,” Off and Jim Thorpe Superintendent Robert Presley wrote in a presentation to the school board and public on Wednesday.

“This calculation change is a starting point, but the special education costs are still calculated at a rate that is extremely disproportionate to what cyber schools actually pay to educate special education students.”

Jim Thorpe passed its budget in late June with no tax increase to property owners.

An additional $200,000 in the homestead/farmstead tax reduction program for next year means 4,200 property owners in Jim Thorpe will see a reduction of $48 in their property taxes compared to 2023-24.