Nicolle M. Hutchinson, Pottsville, Gillingham Charter School's director of education/chief executive officer, would like a Gillingham representative on the Special Education/Alternative Education/Charter School Committee the Pottsville Area school board unveiled earlier this month.
"A Gillingham representative on the board would add value. We would like to engage in a conversation with the Pottsville school board to explore this collaborative relationship. Will the Pottsville school board be open to this option?" Hutchinson asked Wednesday.
"That will be taken back to the board for the board to discuss," Linda Grube, chairwoman of the new committee, said Thursday.
At its first workshop of 2014, Pottsville Area School District introduced the new committee, which will focus on alternative education in the district, including Gillingham Charter School. Gillingham representatives expressed concern and, on Thursday, Grube and Pottsville Area Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey S. Zwiebel addressed them.
"Please explain the purpose of the committee. Several members of our community have expressed concerns that the committee is investigative or founded with hostile intent," Hutchinson said Wednesday.
"There's a misconception in the community that we're trying to target people or schools and that's not the purpose of it. It's the same as the board's other committees, like the finance committee or the building and grounds committee. It's a vehicle to funnel information and reports to the board at public meetings regarding not just charter schools but cyber charters, alternative education programs and special education. We are not targeting anyone or anything," Zwiebel said.
However, Zwiebel and district Business Manager Stephen C. Curran said the school board is concerned with how much money is spent on charter and cyber charter schools.
Since the Pottsville Area School District does not receive any reimbursement from the state for the state subsidy it uses on tuition for children in charter and cyber charter schools, the school board is keeping a sharp eye on the number of children enrolled in those programs, Zwiebel said.
The school district's 2013-14 budget is $40,404,588. Of that, $1.6 million is set aside for cyber/charter schools, Zwiebel said.
"And Gillingham Charter School accounts for $1 million of that total," Zwiebel said.
The tuition cost to educate a regular public school student at Pottsville Area is $9,200.08. And the cost to educate a special education student at Pottsville Area is $11,459.03, Zwiebel said.
"The tuition cost for each special education student varies depending upon their disability and the program they are educated in," Zwiebel said.
At Pottsville Area, there are 2,343 regular students and 493 special education students for a total enrollment of 2,836 students, Zwiebel said.
The cyber/charter school tuition rate is $9,756.14 for regular students and $21,066.91 for special education students, Zwiebel said.
At Gillingham, at the start of the school year, there were 61 regular education students and 17 special education students, for a total enrollment of 78 students. And at the start of the school year, there were 33 regular education cyber school students and six special education students, for a total of 39 students enrolled in cyber school, Zwiebel said.
The cost to enroll students in the cyber school program called eBridge Academy in Lehighton is cheaper.
"The tuition is half the cost of the tuition at Pottsville Area," Zwiebel said.
At the start of the school year, there were 10 regular education Pottsville Area students enrolled in eBridge and one special education student enrolled in that program, for a total enrollment of 11 students, Zwiebel said.
At the school board meeting Jan. 8, board President John F. Boran said: "We have constant issues with students transferring in and out. The committee will keep us updated on what's going on in that arena."
"Transferring in and out of where? The district? Gillingham? If the district, to where are they transferring? Gillingham only? And if he means students are transferring in and out of Gillingham, what data is he basing that statement on? Over what period of time?" Hutchinson asked Wednesday.
According to records Zwiebel had with him Thursday, the Pottsville Area School District has had cyber charter students since the 2008-09 school year.
Students at the district first enrolled in eBridge in the 2010-11 school year, according to those records.
On June 7, 2011, the State Charter School Appeals Board unanimously approved the Gillingham Charter School Collaborative's charter for five years. And Gillingham opened for the 2011-12 school year.
"It's not just Gillingham," Zwiebel said.
"It's cyber charter too," Grube said.
"And we have students coming and going all the time," Zwiebel said.
The district has to study the traffic flow for a few reasons. It must record how many students enroll and leave these programs from a financial perspective, but the school board also has to keep an eye on trends, Curran said.
"If there's a spike all of a sudden and there's a lot more students leaving one program or another, we have (to) figure out why is that. And from what we see in our figures over the last three years, we're seeing a downward trend. More students are staying or coming back here," Zwiebel said.
At Gillingham, there were 88 students enrolled at the end of the 2011-12 school year, 84 students enrolled at the end of the 2012-13 school year and 78 students enrolled at the start of this school year, Zwiebel said.
On Friday, Hutchinson said there was "around 206" students in grades K through 11. Gillingham has 10 students in 11th grade and she's planning to have a 12th grade in September for the start of the 2014-15 school year.
In cyber schools, there were 70 students enrolled at the end of the 2011-12 school year, 44 students enrolled at the end of the 2012-13 school year and 39 students enrolled at the start of this school year, Zwiebel said.
At eBridge, there were 21 students enrolled at the end of the 2011-12 school year, 35 students enrolled at the end of the 2012-13 school year and 11 students enrolled at the start of this school year, Zwiebel said.
The committee is not promoting or discouraging charter or cyber schools, Zwiebel said.
"It's neutral. We're just trying to present all the facts and figures at our public meetings so the taxpayers know. This isn't a problem that's unique to the Pottsville Area School District. Every public school in the commonwealth (has) charter or cyber charter students," Zwiebel said.
"I appreciate the clarification on what the committee is going to do. That's helpful," Hutchinson said Friday.
"And I understand about having different committees. We actually have a Charter Compliance Committee. They read through the charter and they make sure the things we said we would do we're doing," Hutchinson said.
Gillingham formed that committee in August. Members of the Gillingham Board of Trustees who make up that committee include board President Marsha Chwastiak, board Treasurer Lori Quinn and board member Mindy Heppe.
"School boards have these different committees and need to get reports to see how things are going. The job of the board is to hold the school accountable and to make sure they're doing what they said they would do," Hutchinson said.
When the Pottsville Area school board introduced its Special Education/Alternative Education/Charter School Committee Jan. 8, Boran named Grube its chairwoman.
"Linda has a unique perspective, having been a special ed teacher," Zwiebel said.
Grube was a full-time aide at Pottsville Area from 2006 to 2008.
According to Grube, the committee also includes Boran and board Vice President Scott D. Krater.