Pennsylvania House Bill 2735 updates the Public School Code of 1949 to restrict school districts from increasing real property taxes unless their projected ending fund balances meet specific limits. The bill establishes a sliding scale where larger districts with higher total budgeted expenditures must maintain lower percentages of committed, assigned, and unassigned funds compared to smaller districts. To ensure compliance, each district that approves a tax increase must submit certification data to the Department of Education by August 15 of each year starting in 2027.
This bill limits how much school districts that span multiple counties or municipalities can increase their property tax rates. It allows a district's tax rate to rise only by the amount of a specific index adjustment plus any prior year's rate, unless the increase is due to a formal reassessment of property values or a successful voter referendum. The rules apply to tax years starting after June 30, 2026, and are designed to prevent significant jumps in local property taxes for these multi-jurisdictional districts.
HB 2633 amends Pennsylvania's Public School Code to change how school districts are funded for building construction, maintenance, and renovations. The bill repeals existing grant programs for maintenance projects and building condition assessments, replacing them with a new reimbursement system that calculates payments based on enrollment, building capacity, and local wealth factors. Under the new rules, school entities would receive reimbursement over 20 years for approved projects, with a requirement to match 50% of the cost using local funds unless the project is an emergency. These changes apply to projects seeking approval beginning July 1, 2026, while allowing districts to retroactively seek approval for projects not yet completed by that date.
This bill updates Pennsylvania's Public School Code to clarify how state funding is distributed to charter and cyber charter schools. It establishes a specific formula where local school districts must pay charter schools based on the per-student cost of operating the district's own programs, adjusted annually by wage and employment cost indices. The legislation also sets up a process where the state education secretary can deduct unpaid amounts from a district's state funds if the district fails to pay the charter school on time. These changes aim to ensure that charter schools receive consistent and predictable funding from the districts where their students reside.
This bill creates a new funding mechanism for Pennsylvania school districts and charter schools to cover extraordinary special education expenses for students with disabilities. It allocates one percent of the state special education appropriation annually from 2016-2017 through 2025-2026, then increases this to two percent starting in 2026-2027, with specific rules for how funds are distributed based on student enrollment duration and expense levels. The legislation covers costs for specialized services including transportation, therapy, and mobility training, while establishing caps and prioritization rules to ensure equitable distribution across districts.
HB 2169 amends Pennsylvania's Fiscal Code to update terminology in funding provisions for special education schools. It replaces references to "approved private school" with "approved special education school" in Section 1923(5), which governs how funds from the Public School Code (Section 2509.8) are allocated. The bill directly affects approved special education schools with day tuition under $32,000, requiring funding to be no less than 175% of the 2015-2016 allocation. This is a technical correction to align statutory language with current educational terminology, with no change to the underlying funding mechanism or eligibility criteria.
HB 1500 establishes a Cyber Charter School Funding and Policy Council to develop recommendations on funding, governance, and accountability for cyber charter schools by April 2026. The bill requires public school entities to report advertising and sponsorship spending annually, and mandates detailed cost-tracking for special education services based on individualized student plans. It also adds provisions for student wellness checks, enrollment notifications, and fund balance limits for cyber charter schools, while maintaining a moratorium on new cyber charter school approvals. The law directly affects cyber charter schools, public school districts, and students with disabilities in Pennsylvania.
SB 951 modifies Pennsylvania's community college funding formula to prioritize enrollment in first responder training programs. It adds a new allocation method that counts students in credit first responder programs at 1.5 times their enrollment and noncredit programs at full value, distributing additional funds based on weighted enrollment across all colleges. This directly affects community colleges offering these programs and their students, as funding levels will depend on how many enroll in first responder training (both credit and noncredit courses). The bill changes how existing state funds are distributed rather than creating new funding, with the new formula applying starting in the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
SB 969 establishes Pennsylvania's "Educational Freedom for Families Program," providing state-funded education savings accounts for eligible students in the state's lowest-performing schools. The bill directly affects families with children in public schools ranked in the bottom 15% academically, allowing them to use funds for private school tuition, tutoring, homeschooling materials, or online programs. Key mechanisms include annual state appropriations matching per-pupil funding, portable accounts that follow students regardless of school choice, and strict oversight to prevent misuse. Additionally, the bill creates a "Teacher Excellence Incentive Fund" using reclaimed funds to award performance-based bonuses to educators based on measurable improvements in student test scores and graduation rates.
SB 791 amends Pennsylvania's Public School Code to provide new methods for school districts that span multiple counties or municipalities to calculate and standardize property tax revenues. It directly affects these multi-jurisdictional school districts by offering four options to set uniform tax rates across counties, including using market value calculations or adhering to statewide assessment ratios. The key mechanisms include requiring tax ratios to be uniform across counties, allowing districts to select the lowest assessment ratio for consistency, or adopting uniform millage rates under specific conditions. This aims to simplify tax collection and ensure fair revenue distribution for districts operating across county lines.
