Shapiro Administration announces $75 million grant for environmental repair for 109 Pennsylvania schools

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — On Monday, Governor Josh Shapiro and Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin announced that 109 Pennsylvania school districts will receive grants of up to $7.9 million to create safer facilities for students and educators through the elimination of lead, mold, asbestos, and other environmental hazards.

According to pa.gov , Governor Shapiro and Dr. Mumin delivered the news to Antietam School District in Berks County, which was severely affected by catastrophic flooding last summer.

“My Administration is committed to ensuring that Pennsylvania students have world-class school facilities that are safe and healthy so they can focus on learning and growing at school,” said Governor Shapiro. “Too often, however, districts face costly and extensive repairs to bring old schools up to modern standards, or to address problems caused by emergencies like the devastating flooding that struck Antietam School District last year. I promised to help our school districts provide safe, healthy places for our students to learn – and that’s why I’ve fought for and delivered environmental repair funding as one piece of an historic investment in public education through my first 18 months in office.”

“Students can’t learn and educators can’t teach in unsafe, harmful environments, and the Shapiro Administration is committed to creating healthy learning spaces in schools across the Commonwealth,” Dr. Mumin added. “This funding will enable schools to repair buildings and provide students and school staff with safe air to breathe, water to drink, and classrooms to learn in.”

“The Antietam School District strives to live its motto of ‘Mounts Climb Together’ and we would like to express its deepest gratitude for the vital support this grant award represents for the community and learners of Mount Penn and Lower Alsace, said Antietam School District Superintendent Tim Matlack. “These funds demonstrate the resolve of Governor Shapiro, along with Representative Rozzi and Senator Schwank, in reinforcing our state and local schools’ infrastructure to allow Pennsylvania’s youth to climb to greater heights.”

“It’s been a really tough year for this school district and for the community — this impacted everybody, so many people worked really hard to overcome an unprecedented situation,” said Senator Judy Schwank (D). “I want to thank Governor Shapiro and Secretary Mumin for their leadership and for not only being there for this school district, but for all districts across the state.”

“The severe flooding that hit Antietam Middle-Senior High School last year presented an unprecedented challenge for the entire community. It was clear to us that the state needed to be part of finding a solution, and this historic investment is a major step in that process,” said Rep. Mark Rozzi (D). “This funding announcement is the culmination of months and months of hard work and advocacy. I want to thank Governor Shapiro for following through on the promises he made to this community when he toured the site days after the devastation, and I look forward to working with him and Senator Schwank to continue to bring the support back to the Antietam Valley that these children and families so desperately need and deserve.”

The $75 million funding for PDE’s Environmental Repairs Grants program was secured in Governor Shapiro’s 2023-24 budget. Additionally, the 2023-24 budget makes $100 million available for school facility improvements through the Department of Community and Economic Development(opens in a new tab) (DCED). DCED and the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) continue to carefully review applications for that program.

To ensure districts like Antietam get more of the support they need to serve their students, the 2024-25 budget includes funding for:

• Historic Basic Education Funding : Building on the investments in the Governor’s first budget, the 2024-25 budget makes another historic down payment in K-12 education funding in Pennsylvania with an increase of $1.1 billion. Of this funding, nearly $526 million will be distributed through a new adequacy formula to drive dollars to the schools that need them most.
• Increases to Special Education: Governor Shapiro’s budget increases special education funding by $100 million to ensure that school districts have the basic resources necessary to provide high-quality special education services to students with disabilities and special needs.
• Cyber Charter Reimbursement: The 2024-2025 budget sets aside $100 million to reimburse schools for payments they must make to cyber charter schools.
• Career and Technical Education and Dual Enrollment: Creating real opportunity for students includes expanding options for them to gain experience, training, and advanced credit for college while still in high school. The Governor’s budget includes a $30 million increase for Career and Technical Education and continues $7 million in support of dual enrollment.
• School Safety and Security and Mental Health Services: Every student deserves to be safe and feel safe in their school. The 2024-25 budget continues a $20 million annual investment in school safety and security improvements and provides $100 million in sustainable funding for environmental repairs and other facility projects in schools – $25 million of which is set aside for solar projects at schools. This budget also delivers $100 million to put more mental health and physical safety resources in our schools.
• Providing Period Products for Students: No student should have to miss school due to not being able to afford basic necessities like menstrual hygiene products. The Governor’s budget invests $3 million to provide menstrual hygiene products at no cost to students in schools.
• Investing in Early Childhood Learning: Every child in Pennsylvania deserves the support and resources to succeed, from infancy through adulthood. The budget invests an additional $2.7 million in the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program and an additional $15 million for the Pre-K Counts program.
• Universal Free Breakfast for Students: Students cannot be expected to focus, learn, and succeed on an empty stomach. The Governor’s budget ensures that 1.7 million students across Pennsylvania will receive free breakfast at school, regardless of their income.
• Supporting Student Teacher Stipends: To further strengthen the educator pipeline and address the education workforce shortage, the 2024-25 budget doubles funding for student teacher stipends, for a total of $20 million to support Pennsylvanians training to become certified and committed educators in the Commonwealth.

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