Pittsburgh Public Schools Sat On $187 Million Surplus: Report

PITTSBURGH, PA - Pennsylvania's 500 school districts continue to hoard large reserve funds and the Pittsburgh Public Schools has the state's largest one.

The city school district had $187 million in reserve during 2016-17, according to a study by the Harrisburg conservative Commonwealth Foundation. That includes committed funds formally designated by the district for a specific purpose, assigned funds intended for a specific purpose by the school board or its authorized designate and unassigned fund balances available for any purpose.

The Commonwealth Foundation examined the total of all available reserves, and Pittsburgh’s $187 million represents 28.8 percent of total district spending in 2016-17. State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale has said school districts should not keep fund balances exceeding 20 percent of their total expenditures.
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Why do districts maintain fund balances? According to the Pennsylvania School Boards Association, fund balances are needed to respond to emergencies or other unforeseen event such as an unanticipated building repair; cover unexpected revenue shortfalls; maintain good credit ratings to reduce the cost of borrowing or issuing debt or to keep a district running in the event of late or lower than expected state subsidies.

Overall, school district reserves for 2016-17 increased by $139 million over the previous year to reach an all-time high of $4.5 billion, according to the Commonwealth Foundation.

"School districts now hold enough money to cut every Pennsylvania student a $2,860 check," Nathan Benefield, Commonwealth Foundation vice president and chief operating officer, said in a release. "While 'rainy day' funds are necessary at some level, nearly half of school districts have fund balances exceeding 20 percent of total spending."

Pittsburgh’s surplus was more than three times as much as the district with the second-highest reserves - Reading, which has $60 million on tap. Allegheny County school districts with the highest fund balances:

1. Pittsburgh, $186 million
2. West Jefferson Hills, $32 million
3, Fox Chapel Area, $25 million
4. South Fayette, $23 million
5. Pine-Richland, $20.7 million
6. Bethel Park, $20 million
7. West Allegheny, $15 million
8. North Hills, $13.6 million
9. Mt. Lebanon, $13 million
10. Northgate, $10.6 million
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