Coatesville presents preliminary FY2025–26 budget and flags charter-school funding as a major cost driver

Lori Diefenderfer, the district director of finance, presented a preliminary update on the Coatesville Area School District's 2025–26 budget at a combined finance committee meeting, outlining revenue and expenditure projections, timeline milestones and a set of budget pressures that include rising personnel costs, special-education spending and charter-school tuition formulas.

Diefenderfer told the committee salaries and benefits are a major driver, projecting a roughly $3 million (about 4.02%) increase in salaries and benefits versus the prior year. She reported increases in purchase services (about $2.3 million), supplies (about $1.7 million) and property-related expenses (about $750,000) for an overall projected $7.9 million increase in expenditures (about 3.41%). Diefenderfer said projected total revenues were about $227 million under current assumptions, leaving an estimated gap of roughly $12.3 million that the district must address through expense reductions, revenue changes or use of fund balance.

On revenues the finance director said local revenue remains the district's largest source but noted an expected…