Shapiro announces $75M in environmental repair grants to 109 Pa. schools

Sep. 10—WILKES-BARRE — Gov. Josh Shapiro and Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin this week announced that 109 Pennsylvania school districts, career and technical education centers (CTCs), and charter schools will receive grants of up to $7.9 million to create safer facilities for students and educators through the elimination of lead, mold, asbestos, and other environmental hazards.

In his first two budget addresses, Shapiro pledged to secure sustainable funding to improve school facilities — and this grant program will help eliminate lead and asbestos along with other environmental contaminants in schools to ensure every student has a safe and healthy school to learn in.

"My Administration is committed to ensuring that Pennsylvania students have world-class school facilities that are safe and healthy so they can focus on learning and growing at school," said Shapiro. "Too often, however, districts face costly and extensive repairs to bring old schools up to modern standards, or to address problems caused by emergencies like the devastating flooding of last year. I promised to help our school districts provide safe, healthy places for our students to learn — and that's why I've fought for and delivered environmental repair funding as one piece of an historic investment in public education through my first 18 months in office."

"Students can't learn and educators can't teach in unsafe, harmful environments, and the Shapiro Administration is committed to creating healthy learning spaces in schools across the Commonwealth," said Secretary Mumin. "This funding will enable schools to repair buildings and provide students and school staff with safe air to breathe, water to drink, and classrooms to learn in."

For a full list of the 109 Environmental Repairs Grant recipients, visit — https://www.education.pa.gov/Teachers%20-%20Administrators/School%20Construction%20and%20Facilities/Pages/Environmental-Repairs-Rewards.aspx.

The Pennsylvania school districts, career and technical education centers (CTCs), and charter schools that will receive grants can use the funding to improve water infrastructure and eliminate contamination; install point-of-use treatment devices to reduce lead and other contaminants; remediate mold or asbestos contamination; and for other projects that remediate environmental hazards in school buildings.

The $75 million funding PDE's Environmental Repairs Grants program was secured in the 2023-24 budget. Additionally, the 2023-24 budget makes $100 million available for school facility improvements through the Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). DCED and the Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) continue to carefully review applications for that program.

To ensure districts get more of the support they need to serve students, the 2024-25 budget includes funding for:

Historic basic education funding: Building on the investments in the Governor's first budget, the 2024-25 budget makes another historic down payment in K-12 education funding in Pennsylvania with an increase of $1.1 billion. Of this funding, nearly $526 million will be distributed through a new adequacy formula to drive dollars to the schools that need them most.

Increases to special education: Gov. Shapiro's budget increases special education funding by $100 million to ensure that school districts have the basic resources necessary to provide high-quality special education services to students with disabilities and special needs.

Cyber charter reimbursement: The 2024-2025 budget sets aside $100 million to reimburse schools for payments they must make to cyber charter schools.

Career and technical education/dual enrollment: Creating real opportunity for students includes expanding options for them to gain experience, training, and advanced credit for college while still in high school. The Governor's budget includes a $30 million increase for Career and Technical Education and continues $7 million in support of dual enrollment.

School safety/security and mental health services: Every student deserves to be safe and feel safe in their school. The 2024-25 budget continues a $20 million annual investment in school safety and security improvements and provides $100 million in sustainable funding for environmental repairs and other facility projects in schools — $25 million of which is set aside for solar projects at schools. This budget also delivers $100 million to put more mental health and physical safety resources in our schools.

Providing period products for students: No student should have to miss school due to not being able to afford basic necessities like menstrual hygiene products. The Governor's budget invests $3 million to provide menstrual hygiene products at no cost to students in schools.

Investing in early childhood learning: Every child in Pennsylvania deserves the support and resources to succeed, from infancy through adulthood. The budget invests an additional $2.7 million in the Head Start Supplemental Assistance Program and an additional $15 million for the Pre-K Counts program.

Universal free breakfast for students: Students cannot be expected to focus, learn, and succeed on an empty stomach. The Governor's budget ensures that 1.7 million students across Pennsylvania will receive free breakfast at school, regardless of their income.

Supporting student teacher stipends: To further strengthen the educator pipeline and address the education workforce shortage, the 2024-25 budget doubles funding for student teacher stipends, for a total of $20 million to support Pennsylvanians training to become certified and committed educators in the Commonwealth.

Advocates gather in Wilkes-Barre to fight for contraception care with 20-foot inflatable IUD

A coalition of advocates on Monday gathered alongside "Freeda Womb" — a 20-foot inflatable IUD to fight for contraception access.

Action Together NEPA called for the passage of legislation at the federal and state levels that will safeguard contraception care.

They were joined by Americans for Contraception, a national advocacy group that provided a 20-foot tall inflatable IUD called Freeda Womb on a national tour to highlight the threat right-wing extremists pose to contraception access.

The advocates called on the state Senate to pass the Contraceptive Access for All Act, which would improve access to contraceptive care and reduce costs for Pennsylvania women and their families to access this vital health care service. This bill passed the state House of Representatives on a bipartisan basis in June — highlighting the broad-based support for contraception that transcends party lines — and is awaiting consideration in the upper chamber.

Also, in Washington D.C., advocates demanded that Congress take action on the Right to Contraception Act, which would enshrine contraceptive rights in federal law to preempt attacks on reproductive rights from state legislators or "MAGA-aligned judges."

"While Democrats, like U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright, D-Moosic, and U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Scranton, are fighting to protect contraceptive access, the legislation is being blocked by MAGA lawmakers in both chambers who are pursuing a radical agenda to control women's bodies," the advocates said in a statement.

Haddock announces facility improvement state grant for Old Forge School District

State Rep. Jim Haddock, D-Pittston Township, this week announced a $14,747 state grant for the Old Forge School District to make infrastructure improvements.

"Every student deserves to go to school in a safe and healthy learning environment and this grant will help to ensure that takes place in Old Forge," Haddock said. "This announcement is slated specifically for environmental repair projects. I was proud to support the 2024-25 state budget that invested an additional $1.1 billion in Pennsylvania's public schools for basic and special education."

Under today's announcement, the Pennsylvania Department of Education provided $75 million to 109 school districts and technical centers across the state under the Public Schools Environmental Repairs Program, made possible by funding Haddock voted for in the 2023-24 state budget.

The new funding will be used by schools to repair and replace air conditioners and heaters, to remove asbestos and lead pipes, and to fix roofs among other improvements.

Pa. invests $2B in manufacturing industry

Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED) Secretary Rick Siger this week celebrated the Shapiro Administration's commitment to Pennsylvania manufacturers.

Secretary Rick Siger said, "We are aggressively attracting new businesses to the Commonwealth and are equally committed to retaining homegrown companies. These types of meaningful, strategic investments are helping to position Pennsylvania as an economic leader."

Governor Shapiro and his Administration have been working aggressively to make the Commonwealth a leader in innovation and economic development and create opportunity for all Pennsylvanians. The Governor's 10-year Economic Development Strategy announced earlier this year will capitalize on the Commonwealth's strengths and reignite our economy.

Since taking office, the Shapiro Administration has secured and announced nearly $2 billion in private sector investments through the Governor's Action Team and PA SITES (Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites) investments.

The 2024-25 bipartisan budget delivers on the Governor's key priorities in the Economic Development Strategy to make Pennsylvania more competitive economically and includes:

—$500 million for site development, including $400 million for the PA SITES program.

—$20 million for the Main Street Matters program to support small businesses and commercial corridors that are the backbone of communities across our Commonwealth.

—$20 million in state funding for small minority-owned businesses in Pennsylvania.

—$15 million for tourism marketing to boost our economy, attract more visitors, and support good-paying jobs — building on the Governor's launch of the Great American Getaway brand to encourage tens of millions within a few hours' drive to visit Pennsylvania.

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.