The Thursday before spring break was an exciting time for Parkland officials as they welcomed Gov. Tom Corbett for a one-hour opportunity to present district budget concerns.

Administrators, school principals from all three levels, and their assistants gathered in a closed forum, which was not open to the public or to the media.

State Reps. Ryan Mackenzie, R-134th, Julie Harhart, R-183rd and Gary Day, R-187th, were present, along with a representative from the office of state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th.

Parkland School District Superintendent Richard Sniscak said, at the April 16 school board meeting, the primary focus of the gathering with the governor was on the high cost of special education.

Although the state has not increased funding for special education since 2008, school districts must comply with mandates with escalating costs.

Sniscak said Parkland representatives told the governor how difficult it is to fund extraordinary costs of very high need special education students.

Although Parkland is required to make certain all special needs are met, children with exceptional issues are sent to private schools.

Business Manager John Vignone reported costs for educating a special needs child at a private facility can run as high as $300,000 for the school year.

Administrators re-quested additional reimbursement from the governor to help fund special education, Vignone said.

Sniscak said another topic of discussion was the high cost of transporting Parkland students to private, parochial or charter schools outside the district.

Sniscak reported Parkland takes 1,000 students to 50 different locations within a 10-mile radius of district boundaries.

If a student lives in the northern part of the district, such as Laurys Station, he or she might be transported to a school 10 miles below the southern boundary of the district, which could be in Limeport or Colesville.

Parkland would be transporting that student much further than 10 miles.

Sniscak said Parkland representatives asked the governor to consider changing the transportation obligation to a 5-mile radius instead of 10 miles, which would yield a savings of $500,000.

Board President Jayne Bartlett was favorably impressed with Corbett's visit.

"The governor did listen and did hear us," Bartlett said. "He really was engaged."

Board member Rob Cohen expressed his thoughts on the meeting with the governor.

"This brought prestige to our school district," Bob Cohen said. "It was a closed session where he could hear our concerns directly.

"We maximized this opportunity to have an impact with our governor. Hopefully we will have some positive results."