It's not your typical hostage situation but it's creating havoc for the Sharon City School District and other school districts in Pennsylvania nonetheless.

And it's not quite a ransom payment but the Sharon school board is going to have to spend $2.1 million of borrowed money by the end of the month just to pay the bills.

The state Legislature still has not passed an education budget, and school districts still haven't received money they had coming months ago. But their bills still have to be paid.

Today the district will borrow $1.2 million to pay $350,000 in debt service and $615,000 for payroll by Friday, Business Manager James Wolf told directors Wednesday. Directors are expected to approve another $400,000 in bill payments Monday.

The district will have to borrow another $600,000 by Nov. 26 to cover a second payroll this month, Wolf said.

The board took out a $4.5 million loan in October, which works like a line of credit. The board can borrow money in $100,000 increments as needed.