Section 1722-B - Department of EducationThe following shall apply to appropriations to the Department of Education:
(1) From an appropriation for adult and family literacy programs, summer reading programs and the adult high school diplomas program. The following apply: (i) no less than the amount allocated in the 2014-2015 fiscal year shall be allocated for an after-school learning program servicing low-income students located in a county of the sixth class with a population, based on the most recent Federal decennial census, of at least 60,000 but not more than 70,000; and(ii) no less than the amount allocated in the 2016-2017 fiscal year shall be used for an after-school learning program servicing low-income students located in a county of the third class with a population, based on the most recent Federal decennial census, of at least 320,000 but not more than 321,000.(2) From money appropriated for the Pre-K Counts Program, the per-student grant award amount for grants made pursuant to section 1514-D of the Public School Code of 1949 shall be paid at the same rate as the amount paid in fiscal year 2019-2020.(3) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the appropriation for pupil transportation may not be redirected for any purpose.(4) From money appropriated for Pennsylvania Chartered Schools for the Deaf and Blind: (i) Upon distribution of the final tuition payment for the fiscal year, the balance of the appropriation, excluding funds for capital-related costs and deferred maintenance, shall be used to pay the schools' increased share of required contributions for public school employees' retirement and shall be distributed pro rata based on each school's contributions for the prior fiscal year.(ii) $500,000 is included for capital-related costs and deferred maintenance to be divided equally between each school.(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, money from the set-aside under section 2509.8 of the Public School Code of 1949 shall be allocated to each approved private school with a day tuition rate determined to be less than $32,000 during the 2010-2011 school year. The allocation shall be no less than the amount allocated in the 2015-2016 fiscal year.(6) The following shall apply: (i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, funds set aside under section 2509.8 of the Public School Code of 1949 shall include an allocation of $1,000,000 for an approved private school which received a payment under section 1722-F(3).(ii) The allocation under subparagraph (i) shall be in addition to an allocation from an appropriation for approved private schools.(iii) For the purposes of the formula for approved private schools under section 1376 of the Public School Code of 1949 for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, a payment made under this paragraph shall be considered part of the base allocation in section 1376(a.2) of the Public School Code of 1949.(7) Money appropriated for regional community college services shall be distributed to each entity that received funding in fiscal year 2019-2020 in an amount equal to the amount it received in that fiscal year.(8) Money appropriated for community education councils shall be distributed to each entity that received funding in fiscal year 2019-2020 in an amount equal to the amount it received in that fiscal year.(9) Notwithstanding section 1724-A of the Public School Code of 1949 or 24 Pa.C.S. § 8329 (relating to payments on account of social security deductions from appropriations), no payments shall be made to charter schools, regional charter schools or cyber charter schools authorized under Article XVII-A of the Public School Code of 1949 to provide for Social Security and Medicare contributions from money appropriated for basic education funding or school employees' Social Security.(10) Notwithstanding section 1724-A of the Public School Code of 1949 or 24 Pa.C.S. §§ 8326 (relating to contributions by the Commonwealth) and 8535 (relating to payments to school entities by Commonwealth), no payments shall be made to charter schools, regional charter schools or cyber charter schools authorized under Article XVII-A of the Public School Code of 1949 from money appropriated for payment of required contributions for public school employees' retirement.Added by 2021 No. 24, § 18, eff. 7/1/2021.