Shapiro Administration Visits Antietam School District in Berks County to Announce $75 Million in Environmental Repair Grants to 109 Pennsylvania Schools

Following last summer's catastrophic flooding, Governor Shapiro visited the Antietam Middle-Senior High School and promised his full support to the community - and now, the district is receiving over $7.8 million for repairs and reconstruction.

Grant program fulfills commitment Governor Shapiro made in his first two budget addresses, providing significant funding to address environmental issues in Pennsylvania schools.

Harrisburg, PA - Today, Governor Josh Shapiro and Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin visited Antietam School District in Berks County - the site of catastrophic flooding last summer - to announce that 109 Pennsylvania school districts, career and technical education centers (CTCs), and charter schools 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.

In his first two budget addresses, Governor Shapiro pledged to secure sustainable funding to improve school facilities - and this grant program will help eliminate lead and asbestos along with other environmental contaminants in schools to ensure every student has a safe and healthy school to learn in.

Last summer, Antietam Middle-Senior High School experienced significant damage from catastrophic flooding, leaving the building unusable. Antietam School District will now receive $7,831,350 through PDE's Environmental Repairs Grant program for repairs and construction at the site of the former Antietam Middle-Senior High School - the maximum amount awarded to any district.

"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," said Secretary Dr. Khalid N. Mumin. "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 Governor was joined for the grant announcement by Antietam School District Superintendent Tim Matlack, Senator Judy Schwank, and Representative Mark Rozzi.

"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. "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 Representative Mark Rozzi. "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"

For a full list of the 109 Environmental Repairs Grant recipients, visit PDE's website.

The Pennsylvania school districts, career and technical education centers (CTCs), and charter schools that will receive grants can use the funding to improve water infrastructure and eliminate contamination; install point-of-use treatment devices to reduce lead and other contaminants; remediate mold or asbestos contamination; and for other projects that remediate environmental hazards in school buildings.

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

This year, Governor Shapiro signed into law the 2024-25 bipartisan budget, which includes another $100 million for DCED's school facility improvements program. Since taking office, the Shapiro Administration has made a total of $275 million available for school infrastructure and environmental repairs. This is a significant step forward in promoting safer and healthier school communities, and the Shapiro Administration is committed to building on this progress for our schools and our students.

As students across the Commonwealth return to school to year, they are benefitting from substantial new investments secured by Governor Shapiro that will give every student the freedom to chart their own course and the opportunity to succeed. The 2024-25 budget includes a historic $1.1 billion in total increases in K-12 public education funding, the largest year-over-year increase in Commonwealth history

Antietam School District will significantly benefit from the 2024-25 bipartisan budget's investments and the new adequacy formula. The district is set to receive approximately $1.4 million more than last year thanks to this budget, nearly a 20 percent increase over the previous year. The district serves approximately 1,000 students from Mt. Penn Borough and Lower Alsace Township.

To ensure districts like Antietam get more of the support they need to serve our 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.

You can read Pennsylvania's first economic development strategy in 20 years. For more information on how the Governor's proposed budget will create opportunity for all Pennsylvanians, visit Governor Josh Shapiro's Budget website.

For more information about the Department of Community and Economic Development, visit DCED website, and be sure to stay up-to-date with all of our agency news on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Governor's Press Office, [email protected]

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.