State's Level Up funding supplement helps 3 of Westmoreland's least wealthy school districts

Administrators at three Westmoreland County school districts are glad to accept supplemental state funding approved this year for Pennsylvania’s least wealthy districts.

But, it may take a little while to decide how best to spend the extra money, which Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday as part of a $300 million increase in funding for education in the 2021-22 Pennsylvania state budget.

The Level Up funding initiative will provide a $100 million equity supplement, shared among Pennsylvania’s 100 poorest school districts, in addition to the state’s basic education subsidy for all districts.

“Level Up will help us level the playing field, and make sure students in underfunded districts aren’t being left behind,” Wolf said. “I’ve visited many of those underfunded schools, and it is clear that our funding doesn’t treat every student the same. Every student deserves a chance to learn, and Level Up will help give them that chance.”

According to figures released by the state Department of Education, the New Kensington-Arnold School District will get the most in the county with $369,076 in Level Up money and $13.3 million in basic education funding. Greensburg Salem School District will get an extra $256,976 in addition to its $11.2 million basic subsidy. Jeannette City School District is slated to receive a projected $175,192 through the Level Up initiative, in addition to a basic education subsidy of nearly $8.8 million.

Jeannette’s Level Up supplement “infuses much-needed funding to support and grow programs for our students,” Superintendent Matt Jones said. ”Many districts such as ours have a very limited capacity to create additional local revenue without placing undue burden on our citizens.

“The Level Up supplement provides our district leadership the opportunity to begin thinking about future programs and student opportunities instead of just providing minimal opportunities in an attempt to balance the budget.”

Jeannette’s 2021-22 budget totals more than $24.5 million, including $338,396 in deficit spending.

“The largest single increase is the expected impact of cyber charter tuition,” Jones said.

According to state figures derived from census data, the 5-year average median household income in the Jeannette district, as of 2019, was $40,720. Median incomes for Greensburg Salem and New Kensington-Arnold were $45,601 and $39,086, respectively.

Those compare to a median income of $98,217 in Franklin Regional School District, the highest in the county.

“It’s always better to get more than is expected, and the extra funds will certainly help,” said J.R. Dzurica, business manager for Greensburg Salem. “(Acting Superintendent Ken) Bissell and I will collaborate with our school board and administrative team on what ways the extra funds will be used.”

Greensburg Salem’s 2021-22 budget of $48.1 million holds the line on taxes while including a revenue gap of about $692,000. It does not include three school librarian positions that had been eliminated through attrition and would cost about $250,000 annually to restore, according to Dzurica.

Christopher Sefcheck, who started as the New Kensington-Arnold superintendent on Thursday, said district administrators were awaiting state guidelines on how the Level Up funding may be used.

Regardless of how it is applied to the district’s $40.25 million budget, “it’s an enormous boost we weren’t expecting,” Sefcheck said. “It’s going to be a huge impact for us.”

Before the Level Up announcement, New Kensington-Arnold was projecting a revenue shortfall of about $25,500 for 2021-22.

“The Level Up supplement movement has shined a spotlight across the commonwealth on the public school funding inequity that exists in Pennsylvania,” Jones. “Historically, student educational opportunities in our state have been determined by the ZIP code in which a student resides.

“This is an unfortunate reality that has gone ignored for decades, and Level Up has brought renewed attention and understanding to difficulties that school leaders face as they struggle to provide our students the best resources, services and educational experiences.”

Figures for what every school district in the state will get in basic education subsidies for the upcoming school year can be found here.