CLEARFIELD- After the longest government shut down in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, funds are finally starting to come in to where they are most desperately needed.
At Monday’s Clearfield Area School Board meeting Business Manager Sam Maney said that the district will begin getting needed funding beginning Tuesday and throughout the next week, approximately $4.7 million.
Furthermore, another $2.2-2.3 million is expected later on.
Overall, the district is getting a little more than $24,000 over what Maney expected.
He said he expects to have more information as the funding comes in, and expressed relief that the budget finally was passed by the General Assembly and Governor’s office.
He also talked about some money owed to the district from a few of the charter schools the district deals with.
Maney explained that usually the district is billed, but the charter schools sometimes owe money depending on when students enroll and how long they remain enrolled at the charter school.
If the student enrolls mid-month and then leaves in the middle of another month, the charter school will usually charge the district for the entire time, and then later come back and reimburse the district for the time the student was not enrolled, however, about four of the schools haven’t done so for the previous year and he has been attempting to get in touch with them.
Before reviewing the committee reports, Superintendent Terry Struble spoke to the board about some donations the district recently received to help students beyond learning.
The district operates a backpack program for elementary students where backpacks are filled with food for the students who may have a need to have over the weekend. The Clearfield and Curwensville Masonic Lodge recently donated $1,000 to the program, and the Elks donated $2,000.
Another programs for kids at both schools is the CARES closet, where kids can stop by and get clothing, shoes, coats and hygiene items, and recently the district received carloads of donations and funding.
“We have a very generous community,” Struble said.
Regarding the recent school closure due to winter weather, Struble is proposing that the make up day be the traditional second day of buck season, which is usually the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Because of changes in rules from the PA Game Commission which allows for rifle season to begin earlier, he said he would rather use that day than put it off until January or February when they might need those days for additional days off.
Although the board could not vote on the matter, the members indicated that they would likely approve that measure next week so that Struble can begin getting the word out well before Thanksgiving.
