Bensalem School Board Calls Out State For Budget Crunch

BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA — As the Bensalem Township School Board decides how to reduce costs before voting on its 2026-2027 budget next month, the board is hitting up Harrisburg for help.

At its meeting on Wednesday, the school board voted unanimously on a resolution calling for the state's General Assembly to increase public education funding.

The school district faces a $2.7 million deficit in the 2026-2027 budget, which the school board will vote on at its meeting on June 29.

After reports that the school district has a "severe financial situation," school directors took measures to reduce a deficit considered between $15-16 million with no tax increase.

The school board opted in late April to eliminate 31 positions, including nine administrative posts, and over 20 elementary teachers, librarians, guidance counselors, and special education teachers.

“The state is failing our schools by over $4 billion by not funding our programs but mandating additional requirements," the school board said in a joint statement. "You (the Assembly) need to work harder, and you need to do better, all of you, without exception.”

In last year’s budget, State Rep. Kathleen "KC" Tomlinson said she voted to support reforming the cyber charter law, which will save schools $175 million statewide and reduce tuition payments for public school districts.

"The bottom line is I have always supported charter school reform," Tomlinson said, adding that she went a step further and worked in a bipartisan way to introduce legislation with my colleague Rep Joe Ciresi (D- Montgomery County).