Punxsutawney Area SD proposes $55.2 million general fund budget with contingencies for roof and minimum wage

The Punxsutawney Area School District on March 1 presented a proposed 2026–27 general fund budget that would carry about $55.18 million in expenses against roughly $50.78 million in projected revenue, district staff said at a budget workshop.

Susan, a district staff member leading the presentation, told board members the draft includes built-in contingencies and a number of new items that together raise the planned use of fund balance compared with prior years. She listed two new high‑school teaching positions (life skills and social studies) estimated at $196,890, band uniforms carried forward at $93,993 and a minimum‑wage contingency of $215,500. The district is also budgeting a district share of $900,000 toward a roof project with an estimated total cost of $3,600,000 and said it will apply for a facilities grant that would match the district’s share.

Susan emphasized that a budget is a spending plan that can be changed before final adoption and that, by law, the district cannot spend more than the approved total. She said the administration trimmed about $1.3 million from original department requests before presenting the draft to the board.

The presentation said the district expects to remain heavily dependent on state funding, with roughly 66.5% of revenue coming from the Commonwealth, about 28% from local sources and roughly 5% from federal funds. Susan said carryover in federal Title programs and an increase in the Ready to Learn grant (previously added to the district base) account for part of the federal revenue increase reflected in the draft.

Board members asked for details on staffing and specific line‑item increases. In response, Susan said the two teacher positions are planned for high‑school life skills and high‑school social studies, and she identified a notable wage/benefits increase in the budget tied to homebound and summer‑program wages that were previously paid from ESSER carryover.

On fund balance, Susan said the district entered the fiscal year with about $17 million and is not expected to use the full budgeted drawdown this year; $3.75 million is currently shown as committed for future maintenance and repairs and would require board action to reassign.

The administration plans to present the proposed budget for board approval at the April meeting (the start of the required 30‑day public display period), with final adoption expected by the June 30 statutory deadline. “Budgets are like diets,” Susan said during the meeting; “you start with good intentions, but somehow miscellaneous ends up eating half of your pie charts.”

The board did not take any formal votes at the workshop; members were invited to submit questions before the April meeting.