PORTAGE — At long last, the state budget has been passed, Portage Area Superintendent Pete Noel announced during Wednesday’s school board meeting.

Because district officials aren’t certain how soon funds will be released, the school board approved an $8.3 million line of credit with 1st Summit Bank during the meeting. The general obligation bond has an interest rate of 4.9%, Business Administrator Jeff Vasilko said, noting the district likely won’t have to use the credit it received.

“Normally they send out the funds rather quickly once they approve the budget, so hopefully that stays true,” Vasilko said, adding he was relieved when he found out the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a budget and sent it to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s desk for his signature Wednesday afternoon.

The $50.1 billion state budget includes a $565 million increase for public schools, which is the second installment in the adequacy and tax equity payments, according to the Pennsylvania State Education Association.

The budget also includes a $105 million increase in basic education funding for all public schools, a

$40 million increase in special education, $30 million for the student teacher stipend program, $125 million for school facilities — with $25 million set aside for the Solar for Schools program — and $178 million in cyber charter tuition savings.

After Wednesday’s board meeting, Vasilko said the cyber charter savings is “great.”

“It’s going to help every school,” Vasilko said, noting cyber charter tuition was one of Portage Area’s largest expenditures last year.

“We were over $600,000 last year (in cyber charter tuition payments), so any savings we can see is appreciated,” Vasilko said.

Vasilko said Portage Area’s general fund balance is about $3.2 million. With monthly expenditures of about $1.4 million, the district “should be good through December,” he said.

“I’m just glad they passed that budget,” Vasilko said. “We need money.”

Aaron Chapin, the education association’s president, said he hopes state funding is expedited so public educators and their students can continue with their critical educational programs, after-school enrichment, early childhood education and many other services.

“We hope that the commonwealth will expedite state funding payments to all public schools so that they can continue to meet the educational needs of their students,” Chapin said in a statement.

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.