CFO: State funding boost offsets costs but cyber-charter tuition adds $2M pressure

Debbie Maslowski, the district chief financial officer, told the William Penn School District board that state funding updates have materially improved revenue assumptions but that cyber-charter tuition rules remain a key uncertainty for the budget.

"For those of you that don't know me my name is Debbie Maslowski. I'm here at the district as the CFO," Maslowski said before reviewing revenue and expenditure tables. She said the district recorded about $15,100,000 more in basic-education funding and $121,000 in special-education funding in recent state allocations.

On the expenditure side, Maslowski said the district's projected expenses for 25-26 increased by about $2,000,000 because the original budget reflected the governor's proposed approach to cyber-charter tuition, which recommended a flat $8,000 per cyber-student. Legislature action on cyber-charter reform was not completed, Maslowski said, and the state is still working on a formula that could change local costs.

Board members asked how the new adequacy or 'extra' funds were reflected in the first-column budget figures; Maslowski said the third-column projections show the increase and that without the roughly $5,000,000 of additional basic-ed funding the district would have reverted to previously budgeted totals. When members asked whether the bottom line shows a surplus, Maslowski said there is a small surplus under current assumptions but warned that charter-school reform and other pending factors could change the final position.

Maslowski flagged that the district will continue refining numbers as state guidance and cyber-charter reform details emerge, and she offered to provide follow-up data requested by board members on prior-year comparisons and budget-line specifics.