ADAMS TWP — The pandemic has caused a scarceness of supplies, food and materials during the last few months. Now, schools — including Mars Area — are facing a shortage of their own.

“The district is facing a financial challenge,” said Jill Swaney, Mars Area business manager, Wednesday night during a virtual board meeting. “We’re looking at a $1.4 million deficit.”

Swaney said the deficit is strictly a side effect of the pandemic.

It’s coming from a recent uptick in parents withdrawing their children from Mars Area and instead enrolling them in cyber charter schools, to deal with COVID-19.

Over 200 students have left the district this way, according to Swaney.

Swaney asked the board to have a public finance meeting next week to specifically discusses ways the district can meet the problem head-on.

Swaney said she doesn’t see a way to address the deficit through the district’s regular budget.

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