Gov. Tom Wolf signed a state budget bill on Wednesday.

That is good news for those within the Warren County School District who have been trying to make budget decisions without complete information about state funding. And, the budget includes “the largest education funding increase in state history,” according to the release from Wolf’s office.

“The budget outlined in House Bill 1348 makes a historic $416 million increase in state funding for public education,” according to the release. “The budget makes crucial investments to support the needs of schools and students, including a $200 million increase in the Fair Funding Formula, $100 million to support underfunded school districts through the Level Up initiative, $50 million in special education funding, $30 million for early education, $20 million for Ready to Learn, $11 million for preschool Early Intervention and $5 million for community colleges.”

“It appears, at first blush, that we will be getting $435,076 more than 2020-21 in Basic Ed Funding and approximately $146,000 more than 2020-21 in Special Education Funding,” Director of Business Services Jim Grosch said. “The aforementioned equate to an approximate 1.06 mills and 0.356 mill increase over last year’s funding, respectively.”

Still, the budget is not all good news for Warren County.

“It is better news than we initially expected, but the Warren County School District still has some very challenging financial years ahead,” Grosch said. “The component with the most impact on the Basic Education Funding formula is ADM (average daily membership) and that continues to decrease in our district year-over-year.”

“It goes without saying, that we are disappointed with not being part of the Level Up funding,” he said. “Also, there is a concern going forward that the state will limit the increase of state funding over future years. Mandated costs continue to outpace the increases in funding.”

“There are a lot of moving parts, mandates and even unknowns at this time,” Grosch said.

“There is a significant amount of work in the coming years to get through the impact that COVID has had on the WCSD, the community, state and the entire nation.”

Wolf is touting the budget as an important step in recovery from the pandemic.

“This is a budget that invests in Pennsylvanians,” said Gov. Wolf. “It is a budget that will help those hit hardest by the pandemic get the support they need, while at the same time making crucial investments in our future by supporting the students and workers who will drive our economy forward in the years to come.”