PHOTO PROVIDED Sugar Valley Rural Charter School CEO Tracie Kennedy and Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction for K-12 Broc Phillips are pictured during their presentations to the Keystone Central School District Board of Directors on March 13.

MILL HALL — In a 5-4 vote, the Keystone Central School District Board of Directors approved an agreement for a renewal of Sugar Valley Rural Charter School’s agreement with the district.

The board is scheduled to hold a public hearing on April 17 at 6 p.m. to discuss and finalize the agreement. The meeting will be held in the boardroom at 86 Keystone Central Drive, Mill Hall, and available via Zoom.

Prior to the board’s approval, the board had a brief discussion.

Board Member Chris Scaff explained why he would not be voting in favor of the agreement.

“I just want to say that this is an agreement by the board, not by the Ad Hoc Committee,” he said. “The recommendation from the Ad Hoc Committee, the board is overruling.”

Board Member Dr. Bill Baldino also emphasized Scaff’s point.

“I agree with Chris. I think it should be emphasized that what is coming up for a vote is not the recommendation of the committee,” Baldino said. “I think we’re intruding ourselves into something we shouldn’t be doing.”

Ultimately, Board President Roger Elling, Vice President Butch Knauff and members Jeff Johnston, Tracy Smith and Polly Donahay voted in favor of the agreement, with board members Elisabeth Lynch, Scaff, Baldino and Tom Cannon voting no.

Prior to the board’s vote, it heard two presentations from representatives from SVRCS.

The first presentation was made by CEO Tracie Kennedy and regarded the charter school’s communications with the district and other statistics.

Kennedy’s presentation noted that she and Superintendent Dr. Francis Redmon keep an open line of communication throughout the year and provided a breakdown of the charter schools current enrollment.

In total, SVRCS has enrolled 474 students, with that enrollment to remain steady throughout the remainder of the year.

She further noted, in the event a student chooses to enroll in a virtual school, those who reside within KCSD are encouraged to enroll in its virtual academy instead of a cyber charter.

In terms of its fund balance, Kennedy said the charter school’s General Fund as of June 2024 was at $4,240,464. Its board of trustees committed its fund balance on June 18, 2024 to Capital Projects, Summer Operating expenses and Summer Payroll and benefits. Remaining funds were later uncommitted on Nov. 19, 2024.

The charter school is currently working on its preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which will be presented to its board of trustees in May and finalized in June.

Supervisor of Curriculum and Instruction for K-12 Broc Phillips provided the board with a breakdown of its student assessment and intervention so far throughout the current school year.

This breakdown included PSSA scores for students grades 3-8; Keystone Exams for subjects such as algebra 1, biology, literature; and MAP Growth Tests which measure proficiency in subjects such as math and language arts during different parts of the calendar year.

Both presentations can be viewed by visiting the district’s BoardDocs, go.boarddocs.com/pa/keyc/Board.nsf/Public#.