If it wins passage, Gov. Tom Corbett's budget proposal could ease the financial strain expected in the State College Area School District for 2012-13.

Better-than-expected funding in the plan -- if approved -- could help reduce the district's forecast budget gap from about $1.7 million to the $800,000-to-$1 million range, district Business Administrator Jeffrey Ammerman said. The district relies on the state for about 17 percent of its roughly $112 million annual budget.

Ammerman said the Corbett proposal, introduced Tuesday in Harrisburg, appears "slightly better than we had hoped" for the local public-school system. The plan would include sustained funding for retirement obligations and slight increases in the district's other budgetary categories, all adding up to a possible $275,000 state-funding increase over the 2011-12 levels, he said.

Not including funds for retirement obligations, the proposed state bump appears to be in the $150,000 range, Ammerman added.

State funding in State College schools -- including federal monies funneled through Harrisburg -- had tumbled about $1.7 million for the 2011-12 school year, contributing to a round of program and staffing trims.

Even with the relatively good news out of Harrisburg Tuesday, State College Superintendent Robert O'Donnell said, the district is not in the clear. He emphasized that the district still projects a shortfall.

Administrators will work the latest budget information into ongoing school-board discussions, including one slated for Monday evening, O'Donnell said.

Last month, a divided board gave the go-ahead to a preliminary 2012-13 spending plan that includes a 3.3 percent tax increase. Board members typically finalize the district budget in June, about the same time that state lawmakers complete the state budget.