State of our Schools: Tighter budgets are forcing difficult academic decisions

By Matt Petras

For the Mon Valley Independent

Faced with declining enrollment across most Mon Valley school districts and evolving expectations from students and parents, administrators are forced to spend their budgets differently, with some cutting from areas like the arts and libraries. 

For the 2017-18 school year, Pennsylvania spent almost $33 billion on approximately 1.9 million enrolled students, amounting to $16,602 per student, according to the Commonwealth Foundation’s Open PA Gov project. On average, individual school districts in Pennsylvania spent $17,711 per student. 

Elizabeth Forward and Monessen spent more per student than Pennsylvania’s average. Elizabeth Forward spent marginally more per student, $17,938 total, whereas Monessen spent $19,713 per student. The rest spent less, including Belle Vernon Area, which spent the least per student at $14,993. 

The ratio of students to teachers in the area ranged from 13.05 students per teacher at Clairton City School District to 16.3 at Belle Vernon during the 2016-17 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, which pulled from Common Core of Data numbers. 

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