No Decision in SV Charter School Appeal

BALD EAGLE TOWNSHIP — A Keystone Central School Board decision on renewal or nonrenewal of the charter for the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School did not happen Thursday night and likely won’t happen for a couple months.

It turns out the well-attended hearing on an appeal of an earlier board turndown was just the first session in a likely three session scenario as charter school advocates fight to save their Loganton school.

Thursday night saw better than 30 charter school supporters testify as to why their school’s charter should be renewed. Most were mothers, most were from Sugar Valley and virtually all talked of what they saw as school assets, including small class size, individual attention and what one called “more than a school, a community.”

Among the most outspoken was former Keystone Central board member Carla McElwain who told the school board it was “wasting my taxpayer money by trying to close my school of choice.”

The hearing’s first two hours were devoted to testimony from the school supporters. After a brief break the school district began its presentation in support of the February school board 7-2 vote to deny the charter school’s request for another five year renewal. District officials testified as to documents relative to the charter school history before hearing examiner Scott Etter ended the proceeding for the night.

It was agreed to continue the school district presentation on April 16 with May 21 set as a third session for Sugar Valley school representatives to present their case. After that the school board can vote to renew the charter or not.

If past practice follows, the board will again deny the school’s charter renewal. The Sugar Valley school has successfully appealed to the state Charter School Appeal Board after each local turndown. The school has been in operation since the year 2000 and has an enrollment of 419 students from the Keystone Central, Jersey Shore and Penns Valley School Districts.