House Democrats want to find common ground with Republicans on public cybersecurity schools. (Stock photo: Getty Images)
Emily Scolnick is a 2026 Dow Jones News Fund intern at Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Funding for cyber charter schools will remain flat this year, even as Pennsylvania’s latest school code refines and builds on existing reform policies aimed at ensuring student safety and holding cyber schools accountable.
Last year’s budget included dramatic funding cuts and policy reforms to the cybersecurity charter, resulting in: Financial losses of $238 million under 14 Commonwealth cybersecurity public charters. Gov. Josh Shapiro initially proposed another $75 million cut in February budget addresswhich school principals say could cause earnest financial harm to their institution, including staff layoffs and program cuts.
Now they say they are grateful to lawmakers who listened to their concerns and managed to keep funding consistent.
“I believe that when our community comes together, it will work,” said Erin Van Guilder, CEO of Insight PA Charter School. “We were able to kind of fend off these devastating proposed funding reductions.”
Rep. Peter Schweyer (R-Lehigh), who chairs the House Education Committee, said lawmakers have expressed concerns about schools over previous cuts.
“We heard that we needed an additional year or two to calm down and see what the impact of last year’s budget cycle and financial changes would be,” he said.
School districts in Pennsylvania pay cyber students’ tuition directly to the Cyber Charters Foundation, which means funding for the charter is directly tied to enrollment rates. Tuition rates vary depending on the district and whether the student requires special education.
Small cybersecurity charter leaders in Pennsylvania are raising the alarm over calls for funding reform
Prioritizing student safety
The school code now requires cybersecurity student health screenings by requiring them to appear on camera and communicate once a week with a teacher, administrator or school district representative.
This policy results legislation introduced by Schweyer, which then passed through the House Education Committee sizzling debate last month.
He said mandatory health screenings are one of the most significant elements of the school code for the recent fiscal year.
If a student fails a medical examination without a documented reason, school districts must notify parents and guardians within one day. If it is still not completed after three days, districts must schedule a “wellness review conference” to ensure the student is secure and participates in future wellness checks.
If such a conference does not occur, districts must conduct in-person home visits within 24 hours.
“If we do nothing other than make sure that students, regardless of where they learn, learn in a safe and healthy environment, we have done a really good job,” Schweyer said. “We are going to put [cyber students] in a healthier environment. We’re going to make sure that we have a better chance of catching a child who is, you know, hurting in some way.”
Improving existing policies
The school code also refines two rules that were changed last year, prompting fierce opposition from cybersecurity charter leaders and Republican lawmakers.
When the legislator approved the last budget to end the month-long impasse in November, families with students enrolled in cyber courses had to provide proof of residence twice a year. Administrators said this caused unnecessary confusion and burden on families.
“It could also create bottlenecks by delaying tuition reimbursement to public cyber schools until the paperwork is completed,” Republican Joe D’Orsie (R-York) said in a statement. He also previously raised concerns about the lack of protection for students experiencing homelessness in existing residency verification policies.
This school code limits the residency verification requirement to once a year, bringing it in line with requirements for conventional residential public schools. D’Orsie said lawmakers are “working to create parity between public schools,” regardless of which learning method families choose.
The updated code also allows families experiencing homelessness or other unstable living conditions to be exempt from having to provide indefinite proof of residence.
“I am always a big supporter of providing additional protection for this fragile population,” Van Guilder said.
The existing habitual truancy policy, which stipulates that students who recorded at least six unexcused absences and were deemed chronically truant could not transfer to cyber studies mid-year without a judge’s approval, also sparked complaints from leaders and lawmakers. They said this limits families’ access to school choice.
This policy remains in effect in the updated school code, including a provision that cyber charterers who continue to enroll students who are chronically truant will not receive district tuition for those students.
The Code also refines the judicial aspect of this policy by providing clear time frames for “educational best interest hearings” to determine whether a student may be transferred.
In-person hearings must be held within 10 days of the truancy notice and must be attended by a representative of the student’s current school, a parent or legal guardian who lives with the student, and the student if the student is 15 years of age or older.
“It really prevents families from having to wait months for hearings so that students can attend classes and learn,” Van Guilder said.
Under the code, a judge must consider a student’s academic performance, safety, discipline history, chances of success and family support when deciding whether he or she can transfer to a cybersecurity charter.
Van Guilder said that even with improvements, the habitual absence policy still limits school choice.
“We will continue to work with our legislators to better understand this,” she said.
Schweyer said members of both parties are “very frustrated with the stay and truancy concerns” arising from cybersecurity cards.
“In cases like this, finding the language is really difficult,” he said. “Trying to find a legislative solution has kind of irritated us. So… we’ve been tinkering with this budget a little bit. We’re going to continue to reassess and try to get there.”
