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Cheltenham board urges Pennsylvania to end budget impasse, adopts resolution
Summary
The Cheltenham School District board read and moved a resolution calling on the Pennsylvania General Assembly and governor to pass a full state budget, restore owed education funds, and pursue cyber-charter funding reform; the resolution was included on the consent agenda and approved.
The Cheltenham School District Board of Directors read aloud and included on the consent agenda a resolution urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly and governor to enact a complete state budget for FY 2025–26 and to address long-standing school-funding inequities.
The resolution, adopted as part of the consent agenda on Nov. 11, said the prolonged impasse has withheld more than $3 billion in education funding statewide and cited the Commonwealth Court’s ruling that the school-funding system is unconstitutional. It called for release of funds owed to districts, repayment of interest and fees districts incurred while borrowing, and cyber-charter funding reform, among other requests.
Board members who spoke in favor noted that Cheltenham has not needed to borrow to continue operations because of careful fiscal management but said the impasse threatens many other districts’ ability to deliver services. One board member urged community members to contact state legislators to press for a timely resolution.
The resolution text included an instruction to transmit copies to the governor, Pennsylvania House and Senate leadership, and the district’s state legislators. The board did not attach an enforcement mechanism or deadline beyond urging immediate action by the legislature and governor.
Votes at the Nov. 11 meeting approved the consent agenda, which included the resolution; the consent agenda also included personnel stipends and contracts noted by committee reports. The board’s finance report summarized a stable fund balance and projected a preliminary budget adoption in February 2026.
Next steps: The district said it would transmit the resolution to state officials as written; the board did not specify follow-up tactics beyond that transmittal.
