To preserve cash flow amid an ongoing state budget impasse, the Bethlehem Area School Board Monday approved a plan to withhold 30% of the payments it makes to charter schools.
Bethlehem Area schools receive 30% of their budget from the state, and the district’s resolution is designed to temporarily force a shared sacrifice as schools wait for Harrisburg lawmakers to pass a budget.
“This resolution simply ensures that charter schools share the impact of the state’s inaction in the same proportion that our own district is experiencing,” BASD Superintendent Jack Silva said. “Let me be clear: this is a temporary measure. Once state funding is restored, full payments will resume and the charter schools will be made whole.”
The measure passed 7-0 at Monday’s board meeting, with board members Winston Alozie and Rayah Levy absent.
The district will save a little more than $1 million a month, BASD Chief Financial Officer Harry Aristakesian estimated. The withheld payments will apply to both brick-and-mortar and cyber charter schools.
Local charter schools knew districts were considering this option, Aristakesian said. “They’re not caught by surprise.”
Tax revenues will keep the district safe from more drastic options, such as the necessity to take out loans, until December, Aristakesian said, but added that discussions will continue next month about contingency plans if the state budget impasse persists.
In other financial action, board members approved a radon testing plan that had drawn skepticism earlier in the month. Radon testing at 14 buildings will cost nearly $23,000. Additional air quality testing will cost another $18,000.
Board member Silagh White sought to separate the radon testing from the other air quality testing, saying “every dollar is significant” and arguing that the radon portion could be postponed. Her proposal to separate the two did not receive support, and the combined testing plan passed 6-1 with White being the only opposing vote.
A 2024 published research paper from an 18-year-old Moravian Academy student estimated that Lehigh Valley schools may have been exposed to elevated radon levels. The Bethlehem Area School District last tested for the carcinogen 10 years ago.
A Lehigh Valley high school student studied radon in schools. Some districts are taking action.
Board members also approved the appointment of Ralph Andrews as Hanover Elementary School principal. The role comes with a prorated salary of $124,829.
Andrews was most recently an elementary principal in the Palmerton Area School District. He has also worked as an assistant principal at Roberto Clemente Charter School in Allentown.
Hanover Elementary’s previous principal, Erin Hines, was placed on leave in April after being charged with DUI for allegedly crashing into several cars in a Bethlehem shopping center.
