Beaver Valley schools all see an increased budget this year. How much do districts get?

As students have returned to school, it seems this school year is more expensive for Beaver County residents than last year.

Public education expenses have increased for all the communities across the Beaver Valley, with the cost of education rising a little above 4% on average as students enter the 2024-25 school year. To help make sense of these changes, The Times has compiled a list of local schools' budgets and how much they have changed since last year's reported expenditures to offer communities a reference point for how spending has changed.

While every school district featured below saw increased spending, not all those changes would look the same if converted to individual stacks of dollar bills. For example, the Ambridge Area School District saw just under a $5 million increase in expenditures, an 8.9% increase over last year. In contrast, the Moon Area School District reported it had over $5 million added to its expenses, yet the increase over last year is only a 5.9% raise in spending due to its much larger annual budgets.

School districts within the Beaver Valley are listed below alphabetically. Information for each listing includes the previous year's total expenses, the expenses for this school year and a percentage indicating how much of an increase that change was for the district. Exact mileage information can be found on each district's website or within the school board meeting minutes.

The Department of Education's website also has a full list of Pennsylvania's school district budgets, which will include the breakdown of spending and income sources.

Aliquippa School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $30,593,745

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $31,773,494

Budget Change: +3.86%

Ambridge Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $54,617,806

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $59,485,338

Budget Change: +8.91%

Beaver Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $40,484,901

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $42,104,297

Budget Change: +4%

Big Beaver Falls Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $36,427,410

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $37,295,606

Budget Change: +2.38%

Blackhawk School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $42,233,497

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $43,753,024

Budget Change: +3.6%

Center Valley School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $42,713,057

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $45,938,257

Budget Change: +7.55%

Cornell School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $17,131,183

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $17,671,341

Budget Change: +3.15%

Ellwood City Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $34,517,723

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $36,470,849

Budget Change: +5.66%

Freedom Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $27,147,424

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $28,081,469 (Not approved as of 7/17/24)

Budget Change: +3.44%

Hopewell Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $46,155,294

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $47,793,064

Budget Change: +3.5%

Midland Borough School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $6,325,289

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $6,705,191

Budget Change: +6%

Moon Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $89,691,729

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $94,977,920

Budget Change: +5.9%

New Brighton Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $27,907,798

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $29,286,698

Budget Change: +4.94%

Quaker Valley School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $58,254,014

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $60,659,277

Budget Change: +4.13%

Riverside Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $26,867,807

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $27,445,806

Budget Change: +2.15%

Rochester Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $19,850,000

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $20,206,707 (Not finalized as of 7/18/24)

Budget Change: +1.8%

South Side Area School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $26,250,992

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $26,807,384

Budget Change: +2.11%

West Allegheny School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $78,891,349

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $83,300,921

Budget Change: +5.59%

Western Beaver County School District

Budget for 2023-24 School Year: $15,669,623

Budget for 2024-25 School Year: $15,758,254

Budget Change: +0.57%

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Beaver Valley schools see an increase in budgets for 2024 school year