MILL HALL — The Keystone Central School District’s saga with Sugar Valley Rural Charter School continued at Thursday night’s school board voting session.

The board unanimously approved a “notice of charges” — a 43-page document that will be sent via certified and first-class mail to Sandra Gaverick, president of the SVRCS Board of Trustees and Tracie Kennedy, the CEO of SVRCS. The document was dated Dec. 4, 2019 and was approved on Dec. 5.

At a special meeting on Nov. 6, the board voted 7-1 against renewing the charter for the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School. The “notice of charges” simply means that the charter will either be approved or rejected by the courts unless a compromise is reached between KCSD and SVRCS.

A public hearing date is set for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the Central Mountain High School auditorium.

Following Thursday night’s meeting — the final official meeting of 2019 — KCSD superintendent Jacquelyn Martin said that she’s hopeful it won’t get to that point.

“While we approved the notice of charges this evening for the charter school renewal and the hearing is set for Feb. 4, we are working toward a different solution in another legal process,” Martin said.

Martin noted that she has been in contact with Kennedy.

“She and I are organizing a time for charter school leadership and district leadership to work together collaboratively to modify the existing charter. It hasn’t been modified in 21 years,” Martin said. “So, If our efforts are successful and both boards approve the revised charter, we’ll be able to forego any and all hearings associated with the charter school denial.”

When reached by telephone on Friday, Kennedy said that she’s eager to meet.

“We’re hopeful that we can come to an agreement and meet in the middle,” Kennedy said.

Martin stressed that both boards must agree to the modifications.

“Neither the district nor the charter school and unilaterally make any changes to the charter,” she said.

When Martin and Kennedy meet, they will each have an administrator present, along two board members as well as the school’s solicitor.

“We’re still working out the details, but it will work like a contract negotiation,” Martin said.

The meeting will take place sometime in January.

“We don’t have a firm date,” Kennedy said.

“If our efforts are successful we can forego all the other hearings,” Martin said.

Martin is hopeful that the two sides can come to an agreement.

“The board and I are entering into these negotiations in good faith seeking a viable solution for both parties,” she said.

Following the approval of the notice of charges, the board was scheduled for action on the SVRCS approve release and waiver. However, that motion was removed from the agenda as it is not completed.

Also on Thursday, the board tabled action to pay a monthly bill for SVRCS. The invoice totaled $537,171. Board member Elisabeth Lynch requested that it be pulled from the list of bills.

The board will not meet again this year. The next meeting is a work session, scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9 at the Central Mountain High School auditorium.