Mars Area School Board approved the district's $55 million 2021-22 budget Tuesday night with no increase in taxes.

The budget passed by an 8-1 vote.

Jill Swaney, the district's business manager, presented the budget.

Swaney said the biggest obstacle in the budget was the increase in cyber charter scores, and $1.4 million in next year's budget is to go toward this schooling.

“We were conservative with the budget this year because we didn't know how to plan with COVID-19,” Swaney said.

The spending plan incorporates $1.1 million in Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds but only utilizing $132,000 to fund the Extended School Year (ESY), a summer program for special-needs children.

Per President Joe Biden and his administration, 20% of the ESSER funds must go toward learning loss.

The rest of the money from the ESSER funds, $81,000, will be left for the 2023-24 school year.

This is an excerpt from a larger articles that appears in Thursday's Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.