Gateway SD officials say cyber-charter reform could cut special-education charter costs by about $12,000 per student
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Summary
Board members discussed preliminary state budget numbers and a cyber charter reform that staff say could reduce the district's per-student special-education charter charge from about $42,184 to roughly $29,000; officials cautioned figures are estimates pending comptroller review.
Speaker 1 told the Gateway School District board that early estimates from the recently passed Pennsylvania budget show modest increases in basic and special-education funding and an added $50,000 adequacy supplement to the Ready to Learn block grant.
"Basic ed funding is gonna increase ... around $100,000. Our special ed fundings are gonna increase around 98,000," Speaker 1 said, and added that the Ready to Learn allocation will rise from about $385,000 to roughly $435,000 with the supplement.
The largest impact, staff said, is expected from reforms to charter-school funding focused on cyber charters. "The biggest one for us is the charter school reform," Speaker 1 said, noting the district's current special-education charge per charter student is about $42,184 and that the estimated new figure is around $29,000 — a reduction of roughly $12,000 per pupil.
District staff and board members repeatedly stressed the numbers are preliminary. Speaker 2 said the spreadsheets provided by the state are estimates that "gotta go through the comptroller's office" for final calculation. "There are still numbers to be crunched," Speaker 2 said.
Board members raised operational questions about enrollment shifts if charter schools reduce services or close. Speaker 4 asked whether students who return from charters would be accommodated in district schools; the board and staff said they would plan to absorb returning students but could not quantify the impact until funding is finalized.
Staff also explained a technical change to the charter cost formula, saying districts are now allowed to deduct 60% of student activity expenses and 60% of operation/maintenance expenses when calculating cyber charter charges — a change that will require local number-crunching.
The administration emphasized this is an early estimate and that the district expects follow-up detail from the state within weeks. The board asked staff to share final figures and to update the budget documents after the comptroller's office completes its review.