The state of Pennsylvania seems to be nowhere near a workable budget, and harsh words are bandied in Harrisburg as any number of state-funded organizations hunker down for a lean winter. As human services organizations, schools and nonprofits hoard their dwindling funds, one might wonder how our own school district is preparing.

The answer is: Like the ant to others’ grasshoppers, BASD was already preparing to weather such a storm.

Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy said in a recent email the short-term impact is minimal. “The state contributes only about 25 percent of our revenue,” he said, adding local tax revenue is coming in throughout the next few months.

While in the long term the district will need the state’s money, Roy said, “We have a strong financial position and will be able to weather this state-inflicted storm.”

School board President Mike Faccinetto agreed with Roy but was more specific regarding their preparedness. “We never anticipated a state budget being delivered by June 30. Unfortunately the legislature continues to go against public opinion and a clear message from the voters last fall.

“Luckily we have a strong balance sheet and a healthy fund balance so we can operate through this process,” Faccinetto explained. “Remember that fund balance that will help us operate through this is the same fund balance some legislators considered ‘hoarding money.’ Best case scenario for us is the governor’s proposal that gives us over $4 million in new dollars. Realistic expectations are somewhere around $2 million.”

But as the standoff continues, Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley Executive Director Alan Jennings is disappointed in the government’s myopic treatment of education.

“Failure to negotiate suggests to me that the needs of Pennsylvania and its citizens are secondary to scoring political points,” he said an email. “From our standpoint, adequate funding for public education is emblematic. If we want a productive workforce, we need good schools. If we want to reduce the corrections budget, we need good schools. If we want to reduce, yes, ‘welfare’ costs, we need good schools.

“And we need to pay for it.”

Jennings said raising revenue is key, notably in the taxation of natural gas and closing the “Delaware loophole,” which allows corporations to shunt funds to locations with lower or no corporate taxes.

“Not enough people are weighing in,” Jennings said. “ I think it’s because those who hate government are choking it of the resources needed to do the job, then saying, “See? Government doesn’t work!” That self-fulfilling prophecy is brilliant strategy.”

As of Thursday, state Republicans were negotiating with Governor Tom Wolf to possibly eliminate pensions for future state employees in exchange for most of his proposed education plan, according to WGAL News Harrisburg.