SOUTH WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Parkland School Board finally on Tuesday adopted a budget for 2025-26 featuring nearly $249 million in expenses and a 4% tax increase.
The final budget came in at a total of $248,755,099 with a real estate tax rate of 17.8 mills, which will see the average taxpayer shelling out an additional $13.99 per month, or $168 total from the year prior.
The 4% hike hits the limit for the state’s Act 1 index. In May, district officials said they had not raised taxes to the allowable limit in the past nine years.
Overall, the budget amounts to a 5.1% increase over last year’s expenditures and will tap $5,507,303 from the district fund balance to close the deficit.
"I am proud of the work our team has done to ensure that Parkland succeeds in offering topflight opportunities for students in academics, arts and athletics.”Parkland Area School Board member David Ellowitch
Board President Robert M. Cohen started discussion on the budget reading a letter from board member David Ellowitch, who was unable to attend the meeting.
“As those who have watched our budget process in recent months know, our administration and board have worked diligently over the past year to come up with a budget that responsibly supports our objectives,” Ellowitch’s letter stated.
“Many of the cost drivers of our budget are beyond our control: mandated cyber charter, tuition, inflation and pension obligations, to name just a few.
"I am proud of the work our team has done to ensure that Parkland succeeds in offering topflight opportunities for students in academics, arts and athletics.”
During public comment ahead of the budget vote, resident Michael Bodnar raised concerns over the rise of charter and cyber charter rates.
Bodnar questioned how the district could look into the matter and maintain more students at their "elite institution."
'Challenges they'll need to meet'
Several board members followed with praise for Director of Business Administration Leslie Frisbie and her team for their diligence in the budget process, and for keeping the board informed along the way.
“We truly look at the budget line by line," board member Carol L. Facchiano said. "And I do want to reference, I'm not sure if every school district has this opportunity that we do.
“So I want to just thank our administration for allowing us to dive into it deeply and understand what we're voting on.”
Prior to the vote, Cohen repeated comments he made at the May meeting, before referencing a President Joe Biden quote.
"It shows that we're willing to pay our teachers a fair wage and expect a very fair response in their professional skills. It shows that we have the administrative requirements that this district needs to make sure that we maintain our excellence."Parkland School Board President Robert M. Cohen
“’Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value,'" Cohen said. "That's what our budget does.
“It shows that we're willing to pay our teachers a fair wage and expect a very fair response in their professional skills. It shows that we have the administrative requirements that this district needs to make sure that we maintain our excellence.
"It shows that we have capital expenditures so that we have facilities that we can take pride in and that our students can learn in, and our teachers can teach it.
"We have supplies that are adequate to serve the purposes that we need.”
Cohen acknowledged the budget was substantial, but said it would go a long way toward preparing “10,000 kids to hopefully move into their future prepared to deal with what the world will thrust upon them, the challenges that they will need to meet.”
The board voted 8-0 in favor of the proposed budget.
Budget hallmarks
Hallmarks for the 2025-26 budget included:
- The addition of a school resource officer in North Whitehall Township, new buses and bus cameras, a visitor management system upgrade, and the implementation of a Central Registration Department. Part of the safety budget includes a $286,767 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, the district said.
- A significant investment in a new elementary English Language Arts curriculum, with funding for separate intervention materials. Middle and high school world language resources also would be updated.
- Continued funding to address growth and planning, including what the district described as “swelling enrollment in grades 6-12 across the district.” It said capital improvement projects remain a critical part of the district’s ability to protect and maintain facilities, with a planned groundbreaking on the Parkland High School addition in spring 2026. Funding also would be used to relocate the bus parking lots and renovate and/or add more building space to Orefield Middle School.
The 60,000-square-foot addition at Parkland High School and an addition and renovations at Orefield Middle School will cost $210 million.
Cost estimates for an additional high school and a third middle school came in around $410 million, with a lengthier timeline for completion.
