Pennsylvania’s budget impasse is affecting schools. William Penn School District could run out of money within months

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The William Penn School District in Delaware County could run out of cash as early as Jan. 31 if Pennsylvania’s budget impasse continues.

What happens beyond this doomsday scenario is “uncharted territory,” according to Superintendent Eric Becoats.

“This is not to frighten anyone — it is to be transparent and to be upfront with you about the situation that we find ourselves in,” Becoats said at Monday’s school board meeting.

About 55% of William Penn’s revenue comes from the state. The school district was one of six that successfully sued Pennsylvania over its unconstitutional funding model.

The district enrolls approximately 4,500 students from the boroughs of Aldan, Colwyn, Darby, East Lansdowne, Lansdowne and Yeadon. School officials entered the year already expecting to face a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.

William Penn took a scalpel to programs, staffing and operations to alleviate some of the budgetary pressures. But delays in the state budget have upended previous endeavors to rescue district finances. Pennsylvania’s budget is nearly four months late. Some districts across the commonwealth have been forced to cut programs and take out loans.

Becoats asked William Penn’s finance office to provide a forecast of how long the district can run on real estate taxes alone, which account for about 40% of district revenues. The answer has left school officials feeling powerless.

“We’re in a situation where our hands are physically tied. There’s nothing else we can do,” school board President Monique Boykins said. “We cannot keep borrowing money. If we keep borrowing money from banks — that means taxpayers will have to continue to pay more money.”

More than half of the district’s students hailing from Delaware County’s working-class boroughs are considered economically disadvantaged.

Becoats said he has been in contact with the Education Law Center for guidance. School board member Jennifer Hoff placed the blame at the feet of state lawmakers.

“There is real educational work to do,” Hoff said. “I resent that this becomes work for the William Penn School District when other folks aren’t doing their work.”

Becoats ensured that the unsavory budget projections would not impact negotiations with the William Penn Education Association, or WPEA. Teachers in the district have been working without a contract since the beginning of the academic year.

“This situation that we find ourselves in does not have a negative impact on the tentative agreement and the final stages that we’re in with solidifying our contract with WPEA,” Becoats said.