The Pennsylvania School Boards Association on Wednesday filed an Application for Special Relief in Commonwealth Court asking that the state be ordered to pay school districts all state subsidies that were due as of Feb. 25.

In addition, the application asks the court to order that all payments to school districts be made on a timely basis according to the state School Code and at levels no less than those paid in the 2014-15 school year.

The action is filed against state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera, Treasurer Timothy Reese and the state Department of Education.

The state budget impasse has prevented districts from getting any of their state subsidies until early January when Gov. Tom Wolf released a sum equivalent to the districts’ first six months of funding from last year. The Democratic governor in late December signed into law $23.39 billion worth of state spending, reducing through line-item vetoes the remainder of what had been a $30.26 billion Republican-crafted budget.

A number of districts had to borrow money to make it through the first half of the year and that disbursement helped to repay those loans. For other districts the money came just in time to prevent them from having to borrow to pay their bills.

However, no additional state subsidies have been paid since and some districts have discussed closing their doors.

“We regret that it has come to this, but it is the right thing to do for our members,” PSBA executive director Nathan Mains said in a statement.

“We are hearing from too many districts that without state funding, they are seriously contemplating closing schools, if not this academic year, certainly in the fall. Schools need immediate relief now from this man-made problem. The ramifications of no budget and schools shutting down is extremely serious for the stability of Pennsylvania,” Mr. Mains said.

Nicole Reigelman, spokeswoman for the Department of Education, did not address the lawsuit specifically but said the governor “shares PSBA’s frustration and hopes the Republican legislature will return to Harrisburg to work with him and finish a budget that funds our schools and eliminates the deficit.”

The application, which asks for immediate relief, is part of a initial lawsuit filed by the PSBA in January asking for the timely release of federal and state funds owed to school districts. The suit asks the state to compensate districts for the interests and costs associated with borrowing money to keep their doors open.

The PSBA said schools have borrowed nearly $1 billion since the start of the budget impasse.

First Published: March 9, 2016, 9:41 p.m.