The
School Charter Plan:
5. NEEDS ASSESSMENT
5.1. Statement of Need
5.2. School Demographics
5.3. District Relations
Reference: SVRCS Development and Support
(Attachment D)
5.1. Statement
of Need
Since the closing of the Sugar Valley Area School's
secondary facilities, only three single facility K-12 programs still
operate in Pennsylvania. The Sugar Valley Rural Charter School will
serve a significant purpose in the life and culture of its rural community.
It will provide a focal point for young and old to come together and
continuity for shared experiences across generations. It will serve
as a thread which weaves the community together and emerges as a tapestry
for fulfilling the hopes and dreams for a better quality of life. A
rural school unleashes the largest and best resource a community has
- its young people and their energy. In addition to being a place for
learning, the SVRCS will offer students a means to participate in the
day to day development and improvement of their community.
It is appropriate and necessary that the Sugar Valley
Rural Charter School:
1. Provide proven, sound methods of education resulting
in zero dropouts;
2. Provide an educational program that results in high academic accomplishments
and 100% post-secondary education continuation;
3. Provide a rural, community-oriented lifelong learning center;
4. Provide parental control of children's education;
5. Provide parents and students an alternative to large, consolidated
schools outside their community;
6. Provide close-knit family and school relationships that are lost
when children move from school to school;
7. Eliminate extensive student busing which is not educationally productive;
and
8. Place in the hands of parents, the means to eliminate juvenile delinquency
and student drug and alcohol abuse.
Rural education throughout the United States has long
been an object of discussion and debate. While nearly all educators
champion small, rural, community-oriented schools as being the ideal
educational environment for the majority of students, many administrators
view these school as being inherently inefficient. The charter school
concept, as it is applied to the SVRCS, will allow the preferred educational
environment to be administered in the most efficient manner. The SVRCS
will become a model for schools and communities far beyond the borders
of the Commonwealth.
5.2. School Demographics
The SVRCS will be located in or near Loganton Borough
which is a small municipality and part of Keystone Central School District.
Situated in southern Clinton County, two townships and a small borough
cover 72 square miles and combine to make up the larger Sugar Valley
community. While the Pennsylvania State Data Center has classified the
three municipalities as 100% rural, Sugar Valley is within 45 minutes
driving time of major population centers at State College, Lewisburg
and Williamsport. Since 1980, the population of Sugar Valley has increased
5.1% to approximately 2350 residents.
It is anticipated that during the first year of operation,
the SVRCS will have an enrollment of 350 K-12 students. Approximately
200 will be elementary students and the remainder will be secondary
students. With each year's advancement, elementary students will move
into secondary grades so that after four years, enrollment will reach
its highest level of 425 students. For the first year of operation,
it is expected that the elementary classes will average 20 students,
the academic secondary classes will average 15 students, the vo-tech
classes will average 15 and the special education students, including
gifted students, will number between 15 and 20.
5.3. District Relations/Evidence
of Support
Early in the fall of 1996, a seven member Core Team
was assembled to be responsible for the development of a charter for
the SVRCS. Carla McElwain is a member of the KCSD Board of Directors
and has been serving as "liaison" between the district and
the Core Team. As such, she has attended all weekly meetings of the
Core Team, several subcommittee meetings, all monthly meetings of the
Sugar Valley Concerned Citizens and, of course, meetings of the KCSD.
At least three other KCSD School Directors have attended meetings of
the SVCC.
The Superintendent of KCSD was designated contact person
for the district. He has attended charter school public meetings and
information necessary for the establishment of the charter school has
been readily provided by other district personnel. These include Paul
LaRocque, Business Manager; Norma Miller, Personnel Secretary; Linda
Miller, Curriculum Director; Ann Hendricks, Executive Secretary; and
Kelly Hastings, Principal of Sugar Valley Elementary School. Invitations
were sent to KCSD Board of Directors inviting them to a special meeting
between the Core Team and Tim Daniels of the PA Department of Education.
The school district has embraced the concept of charter
schools by applying for, and being awarded, a $15,000 grant from the
Commonwealth. Numerous district employees have attended charter school
seminars, participated in conferences and visited operating charter
schools in other states.
Members of the SVCC and SVRCS Core Team attended KCSD
Property Committee meetings to discuss the district's plans for renovations
at the existing Sugar Valley School and how those plans could best support
the conversion of the school to charter status. The Chairman of the
Property Committee arranged for SVCC members to conduct a comprehensive
facilities assessment at the existing school which was performed with
full support of the district's Facilities Manager, Mr. Chip Laubscher.
The school district Superintendent and the President,
Vice President and president-elect of the local teacher's union attended
a meeting between SVRCS representatives and teachers who are currently
employed at the existing Sugar Valley School. During the meeting, the
entire group discussed charter school plans and numerous questions were
asked and answered. Follow-up questions from the school's teachers and
teaching assistants were documented and submitted to the SVRCS Core
Team and written responses were provided to the teachers. Provisions
for open dialogue between the SVCC and teachers have been made and a
standing offer for scheduled or impromptu meetings between the two groups
has been extended by SVRCS representatives.