Few issues could stand to impact Warren County more than the outcome of the state’s Basic Education Funding Commission.

The bi-partisan panel is tasked with making recommendations with how nearly $8 billion in educating funding is awarded to districts across the Commonwealth.

“For many years in Pennsylvania, ‘hold-harmless’ meant that a school district was guaranteed at least the amount it received in the prior year,” an analysis from the House Democratic Caucus explained. “The basic education funding formula, adopted in 2015/16, discontinued the practice of holding school districts harmless to the previous year. Instead, it established a base year (2014-15) that school districts are held harmless to and distributes new funds above that base allocation… through the formula using annually updated data.”

Changes to that provision could potentially hammer rural districts – like the Warren County School District – that see continually declining enrollment.

State Rep. Kathy Rapp acknowledged the challenge inherent in this process.

“It is clear there are no easy solutions to the challenges we face with our current system of public education, but it is equally clear we have a tremendous opportunity to provide transformational change for our students and our schools,” she said in a newsletter.

The commission is traversing the state holding hearings though none have yet been held in northwestern Pennsylvania.

It’s made up of Republican and Democratic members of both houses of the General Assembly as well as members of the Shapiro administration.

The commission, per its website, is “charged with reviewing the distribution of state funding for basic education to Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts and providing a report of its findings to the General Assembly.

“In 2016, the General Assembly enacted the basic education funding formula recommended by the original BEFC,” per the Commission. “That formula uses various student-based weights and district-level factors to determine each school district’s fair share of funds that the General Assembly distributes through the formula.”

The Commission’s recommendations would require enactment by the General Assembly and governor.

“It is important to provide accountability and flexibility in funding, as we recognize no two school districts are alike,” Rapp said. “However, there are certain standards that must be universal to ensure each and every student has the opportunity to succeed. Student achievement must be the focus as the hearings continue.”