State budget impasse, proposed bills could delay funding and new rules for Chester‑Upland, board told

Board member Dr. Tazma Morales told the Chester‑Upland School District committee of the whole that the Pennsylvania state budget remains stalled, and that delay is preventing the district from receiving state and federal education funds.

"We still don't have a state budget. At this point, it's considered an impasse because it's so delayed," Dr. Tazma Morales said. She told the committee that some federal dollars that had been frozen have since been released but cannot be received by districts while there is no state‑approved budget.

That funding interruption matters because federal and state disbursements tied to district budgets are not flowing while lawmakers negotiate unresolved issues, Morales said. "Because we don't have a past budget in the state, we can't even receive those funds because it requires us to have a state approved budget," she said.

Morales also reviewed a range of education bills pending in the Pennsylvania legislature. On school finance and taxes, she summarized a proposal to eliminate school property taxes and replace that revenue partly with local and state income and sales taxes. "The idea is that having it replaced with local income tax and sales income tax means a larger portion of people are paying instead of just homeowners," Morales said.

She described other bills under consideration: a House proposal to create a free voluntary statewide K‑5 supplemental math program; a Senate proposal to add a high school biology unit described in the report as covering "early human life" and effects of substances on a fetus; changes to truancy rules that would require parent notification after three unexcused absences; measures to increase accountability for cyber charter attendance; and a House bill to fund schools that purchase Pennsylvania‑grown food and emphasize cooking from scratch.

Morales also discussed a likely cell phone ban in schools and a Senate bill, referenced as Senate Bill 982 or "Johnny's Law," to expand anti‑bullying requirements to include social media and require parental notification within 24 hours. She described some items as still needing further detail. "The senate is trying to pass a bill, 9 82, called Johnny's Law to expand anti bullying requirements to social media, and that parents will have to be notified within 24 hours of the incident. This is a little it still needs some framing," she said.

On state education leadership, Morales said the department does not have a permanent secretary of education and that the acting official mentioned in the meeting remains in place. "We don't have a permanent secretary of education. We thought we would have 1 at this moment, but doctor Carrie Rowe is still an acting secretary," she said, adding that the nomination process appears tied up in budget negotiations.

Morales flagged a regulatory and revenue topic sometimes called "skill games" — small electronic machines in retail locations that are currently unregulated and untaxed. "It's a unregulated space ... they're not being taxed, and we need another source of revenue," she said, noting disagreement in the legislature over how tax revenue from those games would be allocated.

Morales' report was presented as information to the committee; there were no motions or votes recorded on the items she described.

Questions and brief comments from other board members followed on topics such as cell phone policies and CTE offerings, but the committee did not take formal action during the meeting.