Budget
The district received $1,010,786 in ARRA - Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low income students. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, Mars Area School District had 271 students receiving free or reduced lunches due to low family income in the 2007-2008 school year.
School district officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant which would have brought the district hundreds of thousands in additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement. The administration, school board and teachers' union prioritized local control over free resources to improve student success.
In the 2009-2010 budget year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a 2.83% increase in Basic Education funding for $5,756,899. In Butler County, school districts received state education funding increases in a range of 4.54% to 2.75% for the 2009-2010 school year. The state's Basic Education funding to the district in 2008-09 was $5,598,302.49.
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Read more about this topic: Mars Area School District
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