Four months after putting the finishing touches on a $41 million budget with a 3.6% property tax increase, Lehighton Area School District is starting work on its 2021-22 spending plan.

Lehighton’s Act 1 index for its 2021-22 budget is 4.2%, meaning that is the maximum the district could raise taxes without Pennsylvania Department of Education exception or voter approval.

“One of the first important things we need to do in December is look at voting on the resolution to stay within that Act 1 index, to abide by the Act 1 rules and timeline,” Joseph Surridge, Lehighton’s interim business manager, said during a finance committee meeting Monday night.

The base Act 1 index is calculated by averaging the percent increases in the Pennsylvania statewide average weekly wage and the federal employment cost index for elementary/secondary schools. It is then adjusted based on a market value/personal income aid ratio in each district.

“Lehighton’s Act 1 index comes out to a little better than 2 mills,” Surridge said.

The 2020-21 Lehighton budget a 1.76-mill tax increase generating $580,376; a voluntary pay freeze by administrators saving $59,093, the elimination of the technology director and assistant business manager administrative positions, saving $154,189, the elimination of certain extracurricular programs due to COVID-19 concerns, saving $84,614, and the elimination of nonmandated transportation due to COVID-19 concerns, saving $992,810. Transportation, up to a maximum of $800,000, was eventually restored.

“I think (the district) is on the right path to getting back on the right track,” Surridge said Monday night. “I am looking at the financial stuff to get a better handle on that, but I can tell you there is a lot of conversation that goes on here about finances in terms of bills and making sure everything is correct and appropriate.”

Cyber costs

Lehighton Superintendent Jonathan Cleaver shared a Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials report that predicts school district payments to charter schools will increase by nearly $475 million in the 2020-21 school year.

Not only will there be increased enrollment in 2020-21, the study said, but there is an expected increase in tuition rates that is calculated in Pennsylvania’s charter school law.

PASBO projects an increase of 172 cyber/charter school students in Carbon County for 2020-21, 818 in Monroe County, 280 in Schuylkill County, 724 in Northampton County and 1,333 in Lehigh County.

The study also estimates the average increase in property taxes needed to fully cover the growth in charter school tuition costs for each county. The estimated increase is 4.17% for Carbon districts, 4.15% for Monroe, 6.22% for Schuylkill, 3.11% for Northampton, and 4.2% for Lehigh.

“While increases in charter school enrollment have not been the driving factor behind charter school cost increases in the past several years, the 2020-21 school year appears to be different,” the study reads. “The statewide cyber charter school enrollment has increased by roughly 24,000 students over last year.”

Cleaver said while the district is not against school choice, it will continue to advocate for a fair funding formula.