ethompson@lewistownsentinel.com
LEWISTOWN – Mifflin County school leaders are not optimistic about how Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed budget will affect rural school districts.
Mifflin County School District Chief Financial Officer Melinda Kenepp explained to the district’s board of directors Thursday during its Committee-of-the Whole meeting, that while the governor’s proposal shows a $1.3 billion increase to schools across the state, Mifflin County’s portion would be relatively low.
Superintendent James Estep explained that if the state sticks to its current proposed formula, any school that is experiencing declining enrollment like Mifflin County and other rural school districts “is going to be seriously harmed in terms of what kind of basic and special ed funding they can get,” he said. “So, unfortunately, that means for a lot of rural schools like ours…we are going to see our state funding shrink even further, which would create some difficult decisions for us
Sentinel photo by TYSON BYLER
Mifflin County High School will soon be occupied again as in-person classes are set to resume for Mifflin County School District on Monday, Jan. 11, according to Superintendent James Estep.
LEWISTOWN Mifflin County School District will return to in-person instruction beginning Monday, superintendent James Estep confirmed in a letter sent to parents Tuesday.
It will be the first time students have been permitted to attend class inside the buildings since Nov. 6.
Estep said while the school district will do everything it can to remain open, the transmission rate within the community as well as the level of adherence by the public to mitigation efforts will ultimately decide how long that will be.
LEWISTOWN Taxpayers of Mifflin County will see no tax increase for the county portion of their taxes.
Commissioners adopted the 2021 budget during the board’s meeting on Tuesday.
“I’d like to acknowledge all the work the departments have done in getting through this process,” said Commissioners Rob Postal.
“We appreciate the cooperation of everybody. The cost of things never goes down. Your employment costs go up, all the taxes go up that you have to pay…But everyone worked together to make sure we could hold the line of no increases,” added Commissioner Kevin Kodish.
Also during the meeting, commissioners approved a resolution to again require residents of Mifflin County to wear face masks in local government buildings to slow the spread of COVID-19.
ethompson@lewistownsentinel.com
LEWISTOWN The best way to get students back in the classroom is for the community to follow guidelines put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mifflin County School District’s Board of Directors agreed during its meeting Thursday night.
Board member Frederick Nickel raised concerns regarding rising failure rates as some students are dealing with truancy issues.
Administration announced recently that truancy was a growing problem this year as students do their school work remotely.
Frederick cited an article from the Pennsylvania School Boards Association that he said indicates schools aren’t “super spreaders” of COVID-19.