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That's on top of about $14 million in payments the state failed to make last month.
The funding delay — a consequence of two months of failed talks on the 2009-10 budget — has forced some districts to dip into their cash reserves to pay their bills.
But school officials said they've been able to bridge the funding gap with property tax revenue, and they plan to start the school year in the coming weeks with their programs and staff intact.
One exception is Pre-K Counts, a partnership between schools and early childhood education centers that provides pre-kindergarten classes to about 250 3- and 4-year-olds in Lancaster County.
Because of the funding logjam, classes for about 120 students will be delayed and may be canceled if the Legislature doesn't adequately fund the program.
Owl Hill Learning Centers has indefinitely postponed the start of classes for 59 children at its centers in Lititz and Lancaster and at Reidenbaugh Elementary School.
Little People Day Care School won't be offering classes for about 20 students in Columbia until the budget impasse is resolved.
And Hildebrandt Learning Centers has postponed its program at Salisbury Elementary School, which serves about 40 students.
The freeze on state revenue hasn't affected just the centers' ability to hire staff and prepare for the Pre-K Counts program, officials said.
The centers also aren't receiving full state subsidy payments for the Child Care Works program, which provides day care for needy working parents.
Hildebrandt gets about $3 million in state subsidies each year for child care and is about $350,000 behind in payments, CEO Bill Grant said.
That forced the company this week to take out a $500,000 line of credit to pay its bills.
"Cash flow is getting worse and worse every day," Grant said.
"It's really going to start to affect not only child-care centers but working parents. They need to do something with this budget soon."
Little People, which gets more than half its child-care tuition revenue from state sources, also is hurting.
The center has imposed pay cuts on its 20 workers and will likely have to lay off five employees next week, center director Laura Hess said.
"We're taking it week by week," Syamal Bhattacharya, the center's owner, said. "If you have no money, I don't know how you run the programs."
With their budgets already spread paper-thin, center officials said they can't commit to starting Pre-K Counts classes now, especially with 2009-10 funding up in the air.
Gov. Ed Rendell is a strong proponent of the 2-year-old program, which is designed to give children from low-income families and those with special needs a solid start to their academic careers.
Rendell included $95 million in Pre-K Counts funding in his proposed 2009-10 budget, but Republican lawmakers slashed that to $43.2 million, half the level provided in 2008-09, in their spending plan.
Officials fear the cuts may be even deeper when a final budget is adopted.
Despite the funding uncertainties, School District of Lancaster and the YWCA of Lancaster decided to start their programs as planned Thursday.
SDL's classes will serve about 80 children, and the Y program, housed at the McCaskey High School child-care center, will enroll about 15.
Cocalico cut its program in half and will enroll 15 children at Reamstown Elementary School beginning Monday.
Officials at SDL and the Y said they'll reassess their programs after they find out how much Pre-K Counts funding is available.
When they'll know that is anyone's guess, as little progress has been made in state budget negotiations.
"I never dreamed it would go this long," Owl Hill executive director Mary Ann Garrett said of the impasse.
"There's no reason for spinning our wheels until we get word to go ahead with the program," she said.
"Meanwhile, there are 59 children who have no place to go."
E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com
