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MILL HALL -- The saga between the Keystone Central School District and Sugar Valley Rural Charter School may be coming to an end soon.
In an advertisement running today in The Express, it's announced that there will be a public hearing to "consider whether to renew the charter of the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School."
The advertisement, directed to "all residents of the Keystone Central School District," reads:
"Please take notice that a hearing will be held on April 28, at 6 p.m., and, if necessary, on April 30, 2020, at 6 p.m., for the purpose of reviewing all relevant matters relating to the renewal request from the Sugar Valley Rural Charter School ("Charter School") to extend the term of its Charter for an additional five (5) years. The hearings will be public hearings of the Board of School Directors of the Keystone Central School District ('School Board') and will be held virtually using Zoom."
The advertisement continues: "Reports and comments about the Charter School, including but not limited to, facts with respect to educational, security, administrative, operational, budgetary, fiscal management, and student performance matters relating to the charter school will be evaluated. The charter school's charter is available for review by submitting a request to Tracy Long, school board secretary, via the following email address: tlong@kcsd.us."
The public hearing is being held pursuant to the requirements of Act 22 of 1997 of the General Assembly.
According to KCSD, any and all interested school district residents and charter school employees, students, parents, and board members may, via the Zoom link, appear at and attend the public hearing(s), and they will be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard at such public hearing(s) by emailing Long in advance for the express purpose of being placed on the agenda for the public hearings.
This advance email request must indicate the individual's intent to speak at the hearings, the individual's address and the reason for speaking at the hearing(s). The school board will call individuals for public comment in the order in which their advance email request was received by Long.
The school board will allow public comment and/or questioning before the hearing(s), but no later than 10 p.m. when the school board reserves the right to terminate the public hearing(s). Public comment will be limited to four minutes per interested person, with an additional opportunity for one follow-up question, which should be no longer than one minute in duration. The public will have 30 days after the last session of the hearing(s) to provide comments to the school board before the school board votes in a public meeting whether to renew the charter school's charter.
Written comments regarding the charter school will also be received by the school board until noon on April 28, if no further hearings are held after this date and, otherwise, until noon on April 30.
All written comments regarding the charter school should be emailed to Long.
Because the meetings are being held virtually, those interested in taking part in the meetings are asked to join through zoom.
The links are:
April 28 meeting link -- https://zoom.us/j/862289244; meeting ID: 862 289 244.
If you are not able to join by videoconferencing, you may call in using the following number:
Number: (312) 626-6799; Meeting ID: 862 289 244.
If necessary, April 30 meeting link -- https://zoom.us/j/521965546; meeting ID: 521 965 546
For those unable to join by videoconferencing, they may call in at (312) 626-6799; meeting ID: 521 965 546.
The charter school was established in 1999. The current enrollment is 492 students, primarily from the Keystone Central School District as well as the Jersey Shore Area and Penns Valley school districts.