TYRONE — The Tyrone Area School Board reviewed budgets for the district’s special education, curriculum and instruction, physical plant and technology departments Tuesday.

While special education costs are on the rise due to more students in the district qualifying for services, the district saved money by prepurchasing technology hardware for the 2026-27 school year during last month’s meeting, the board learned during Tuesday’s work session meeting.

Special education director Jessica Anderson said the district has 298 students who qualify for special education services, which is a 7.8% increase from the 2024-25 school year, she said.

“This is a pretty big increase from last school year,” Anderson said.

District officials are anticipating a need to increase contracted speech and language services for the 2026-27 school year, she said, adding 120 students in grades kindergarten through 12th receive speech and language services.

Occupational therapy needs are also increasing, she said, noting her total budget is $40,422.

Curriculum and Instruction Director Kristen Pinter said her budget increased nearly $175,000 from last year because of renewals that were previously allocated elsewhere but now fall under the curriculum and instruction budget, which is projected to total $806,268 for the 2026-27 school year.

Last year, the cost of renewals was low — about $38,000 — while the cost for new instructional material adoptions was high — about $105,000, Pinter said. This year, she said the cost of renewals is about $221,000 and the cost for new adoptions is $1,775.

The district’s cyber academy costs also grew from nearly $300,000 last year to about $500,000 this year, Pinter said, noting the other half of her budget relates to professional development.

For the 2026-27 school year, about $95,000 is budgeted for professional development, about the same as what was budgeted last year for the current school year, Pinter said.

Pinter said the combined total for the curriculum and instruction budget is $901,759.

Physical Plant Director Travis Crowell said the district’s maintenance contracts will total about $150,000 for next school year.

Crowell also highlighted several facility upgrade projects, including work to the high school weight room, tennis pavilion and adding a digital campus sign. The elementary school is in need of a central boiler system and fire alarm system upgrade, which will cost about $490,000, he said.

Some cracked tiles in the elementary school’s second floor will also need to be replaced, Crowell said, noting the cost is nearly $200,000.

Technology Director Glen Drager said his department’s budget for next school year was reduced about $375,000 because of the hardware the board pre-purchased during last month’s meeting. The purchase was necessary because of elevated costs from memory and storage shortages, he said, noting the total technology budget is about $587,000.

The district will be replacing Chromebooks for three grade levels — kindergarten, fifth and ninth grades — next year as well as replacing half of the professional staff laptops, Drager said.

Drager said hardware pricing is not expected to stabilize until the end of this year or early next year.

With the market stabilization, which he stressed is not a return to prior pricing levels, it’s expected the technology budget will return to a “normal” level in 2027-28, Drager said.

Earlier in the meeting, the board heard from several freshmen students and two eighth grade math teachers, Sean Harker and Curtis Neff, who shared their team approach to success in math, algebra and extra-curricular activities.

The two teachers noted Tyrone Area is performing above the state average in the state’s Algebra Keystone exam, which is a testament to the sixth and seventh grade math teachers, they said.

Middle school Principal Shane Cowher said Harker and Neff are “truly in it for the right reasons” as teachers. Superintendent Leslie Estep also commended the math department’s camaraderie.

Board President Rose Black noted a reminder that the board’s regular session meeting will be held Monday, April 13, instead of next Tuesday.

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