BUTLER TWP — With charter school costs growing annually, the Butler School Board passed a resolution at its meeting Monday urging the General Assembly to change the funding formula.

In 2011-12, charter school tuition is expected to cost the district $1.7 million. From 2006-07 through 2010-11, charter school tuition cost the district $6.4 million, and it was reimbursed $1.5 million by the state. The state no longer reimburses for tuition.

As it stands now, tuition money follows the child to a charter school. That is, the state deducts the $7,500 a year it costs to educate a child from the Butler School District’s funding and sends it to the charter school where the child is enrolled. The state deducts $15,000 a year for each special education student who enrolls in a charter school.

Many charter school students attend classes online, and administrators and board members said the cost of educating a child online at cyber charter schools is closer to $4,000 a year.

To combat its losses, the district started its own online school in 2010-11, including blended programs that combine online and classroom learning. Some students have chosen that program over charter schools.

In addition, the board agreed Monday to add counseling to its alternative education program for at-risk youth. The district hopes that counseling provided through a wellness class will keep those students in the district, too, rather than having them leave for a charter school.

The school district wants the reprieve from the General Assembly to ease future funding problems.

On April 30, the district had a $6.3 million deficit on its projected 2012-13 budget of $94 million, up from $90.4 million in 2011-12.

Teacher retirements, a 2-mill tax increase to 91.8 mills, one-time revenue boosts, and a $2 million reserve fund payment are closing the gap.

A mill is $1 in tax for every $1,000 of property value.

But with the preliminary budget scheduled to be adopted Monday, the board is scrambling to finalize appropriations. It agreed Monday to:

• Cut $11,153 from the athletic budget

• Develop a request for proposals from day care providers for children whose parents cannot provide midday transportation. The district is proposing dropping midday transportation for kindergarten students, for a savings of $225,000

• Maintain the Enrichment Studies Program for 125 students each in seventh and eighth grades

• Maintain five foreign language programs until teacher retirements permit one or two to be eliminated through teacher attrition

• Determine if employees who have not already done so can be asked to ease the budget crunch through givebacks or wage freezes.