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Scranton board adopts preliminary 2026 budget amid state and federal funding uncertainty
Summary
The board approved a preliminary general fund budget that holds the tax rate steady while preserving reserves; staff warned the deficit risk remains if state and federal funding are reduced.
The Scranton School District Board of Directors on July 28 adopted a preliminary general fund budget for fiscal 2026 that the district presented as balanced under current assumptions but sensitive to state and federal funding decisions.
Assistant Superintendent Matt Lapis presented the budget to the board, reading projected revenues and expenditures into the record and describing a budgetary reserve designed to protect operations while the state budget remains unsettled. Lapis said the district is proposing a budget that does not include a tax increase and that budgeted revenues and expenditures were presented as $239,241,768 (as read in the motion). He also noted an established unassigned fund balance (district staff cited approximately $27.4 million unassigned and $5 million previously committed for capital improvements) and recommended preserving reserves as the district works through state and federal uncertainty.
Nut graf: The vote gives the district a working spending plan in advance of the state budget; staff said the district modeled a worst-case scenario that could flip a projected surplus into a multi‑million-dollar deficit if proposed state and federal funds are reduced or delayed.
Key details
- No tax increase included in the preliminary proposal. Lapis said the proposal complies with Act 1 rules and noted the district’s current unassigned fund balance exceeds the state minimum reserve requirement.
- Fund balance and reserves: Staff reported an unaudited fund balance (2024) of about $32 million, including roughly $27.4 million unassigned and $5 million committed to capital. The presentation referenced a budgetary reserve figure in the millions of dollars to be carried into the proposed final.
- Risks and sensitivity: Lapis and other administrators cautioned that if the state provides flat funding or if federal Title funds are reduced as some proposals suggest, the district could swing from a multi‑million surplus to a deficit scenario; staff used a modeled swing of roughly $13 million between best and worst cases.
- Next steps: The board approved the preliminary budget by roll call (9–0). Administration will prepare a proposed-final budget for board review in the fall and return with updated figures when state and federal guidance is available.
Ending: Board members praised the finance staff’s work and emphasized ongoing monitoring; the preliminary budget is amendable before final adoption.
