The Mount Jewett Charter Coalition is holding an informational
meeting Tuesday night in the Mount Jewett Firehall to further the
coalition’s efforts toward the formation of a charter school.
The group’s presentation, titled “Our Children, Our School, Our
Future; What is a Charter School?” is set for 7 p.m. and is open to
the public. There will be a question-and-answer period, as
well.
Guest speakers will be the coalition’s attorney, Thomas
Pendleton of MacDonald, Illig, Jones & Britton LLP, and David
Craig, chief executive officer of the Tidioute Community Charter
School.
The coalition, according to representative Doug Keller, has been
active since November of last year, although related research had
been going on for months ahead of time.
The Kane Area School District, which includes the Borough of
Mount Jewett, has been investigating its options for
reconfiguration of the district’s four schools -ðKane Area High
School, Kane Middle School, Chestnut Street (Kane) Elementary
School and Mount Jewett Elementary School -ðfor several years. In
October of last year, a consulting firm advised the school board to
close both elementary schools. In January, the school board voted
to close the Mount Jewett Elementary School at the end of the
2006-07 academic year.
According to U.S. Charter Schools online, charter schools are
“nonsectarian public schools of choice that operate with freedom
from many of the regulations that apply to traditional public
schools. The ‘charter’ establishing each such school is a
performance contract detailing the school’s mission, program,
goals, students served, methods of assessment and ways to measure
success.
“The length of time for which charters are granted varies, but
most are granted for three to five years. At the end of the term,
the entity granting the charter may renew the school’s contract.
Charter schools are accountable to their sponsor – usually a state
or local school board – to produce positive academic results and
adhere to the charter contract.
“The basic concept of charter schools is that they exercise
increased autonomy in return for this accountability. They are
accountable for both academic results and fiscal practices to
several groups – the sponsor that grants them, the parents who
choose them, and the public that funds them.”
The site said since 1997, 114 charter schools have formed with a
total enrollment of 55,000.
In this case, the coalition will seek approval from the Kane
Area School Board, Keller said, adding they are looking to lease
the elementary school building that exists in Mount Jewett
today.
When asked how the coalition got started, Keller said “a group
of concerned citizens got together” based on a common opinion that
losing the school was a huge detriment to the children of Mount
Jewett, as well as the borough itself.
“We’re doing it for the kids,” Keller said.
Keller said the coalition plans to submit the application to the
Kane school board soon; it will then be up to the board to review
it and decide whether or not the charter is an acceptable
proposition.
Keller indicated that if the board decided against the charter,
the coalition would appeal, both to the Court of Common Pleas and
then to the state Department of Education, who will have the final
say.
The difference between what a charter school and the elementary
school as it is run today can offer, Keller said, is ” the approach
to teaching.” While the school will still be PSSA-accountable, he
said, it will have the freedom to offer subjects outside
traditional curriculums.
“We need to find our own niche … a place to call our own,”
Keller said.
If approved, the charter school would open to Mount Jewett
residents first, he said. It would eventually be opened up to
interested students from the surrounding communities, based on
space available, at those students’ natural school district’s
expense, with the seats awarded on a lottery basis.
