Press Releases

Eighth Congressional District, PA – U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright (PA-08) today announced that the American Rescue Plan passed by Congress and signed by President Biden yesterday would make an estimated $270 million available to school districts in the counties that comprise the Eighth Congressional District to help safely reopen K-12 schools for in-person learning. The funds will be delivered to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, which will make the final determination of amounts the schools will receive.

“This pandemic has disrupted Northeastern Pennsylvania students’ learning for too long. I pushed hard to include the school districts in the American Rescue Plan because they need the money. And homeowners are already stretched as far as they can go. Some of our local districts have been able to reopen, but it isn’t easy, and it isn’t cheap,” Rep. Cartwright said. “That’s why a core pillar of the American Rescue Plan is to provide the resources necessary to help more schools reopen safely, keep them open safely and make up for time lost out of the classroom.”

Education Support Funding for Schools in PA-08 Counties

LEA Code	LEA Name	Estimated Grant
4202010	Abington Heights School District	$2,469,000
4203480	Berwick Area School District	$6,851,000
4204980	Carbondale Area School District	$6,541,000
4200824	Central Valley School District	$2,537,000
4205460	Crestwood School District	$3,056,000
4207200	Dallas School District	$3,487,000
4207530	Delaware Valley School District	$4,937,000
4207980	Dunmore School District	$3,087,000
4208670	East Stroudsburg Area School District	$13,849,000
4209930	Forest City Regional School District	$1,590,000
4216290	Greater Nanticoke Area School District	$7,177,000
4211420	Hanover Area School District	$7,485,000
4211700	Hazleton Area School District	$37,064,000
4212990	Lackawanna Trail School District	$1,758,000
4213050	Lakeland School District	$1,851,000
4213020	Lake-Lehman School District	$2,273,000
4215170	Mid Valley School District	$3,952,000
4217310	North Pocono School District	$2,988,000
4217790	Northwest Area School District	$1,855,000
4218120	Old Forge School District	$2,019,000
4219200	Pittston Area School District	$7,052,000
4219290	Pleasant Valley School District	$6,289,000
4219500	Pocono Mountain School District	$20,656,000
4223250	Riverside School District	$3,891,000
4221090	Scranton School District	$38,239,000
4222860	Stroudsburg Area School District	$7,125,000
4222980	Susquehanna Community School District	$2,098,000
4224650	Valley View School District	$3,056,000
4224750	Wallenpaupack Area School District	$4,889,000
4224970	Wayne Highlands School District	$6,297,000
4226300	Wilkes-Barre Area School District	$32,707,000
4226730	Wyoming Area School District	$5,254,000
4225950	Wyoming Valley West School District	$16,173,000
	Totals	$270,552,000

Source: Estimates calculated by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), accessed March 11, 2021. Per CRS, in addition to other limitations, data needed to calculate final grants may not yet be available as final awards are determined by states.

The American Rescue Plan will provide nearly $130 billion for state education departments across the U.S. to distribute to school districts for immediate and long-term relief so they can work with public health experts to safely re-open schools and make up for lost time in the classroom. This includes:

• Repairing ventilation systems, reducing class sizes and implementing social distancing guidelines, purchasing personal protective equipment, and hiring support staff to care for students’ health and well-being.
• Ensures 20 percent of the funding that schools receive must be reserved to address and remediate learning loss among students.

The American Rescue Plan requires states to award K-12 funds to local school districts no later than 60 days after receipt and school districts to develop plans that ensure schools return to in-person learning.

In total, the Pennsylvania Department of Education is slated to receive a total of about $5 billion to distribute to the Commonwealth’s school districts. Additionally, Pennsylvania is estimated to receive $34.7 million to support Head Start programs, which will be used to maintain access to services for children and families; and about $1.19 billion to help child care providers keep their doors open and reduce costs for struggling families.