| Antietam School District | |
|---|---|
| Address | |
| 100 Antietam Road Reading, Pennsylvania, Berks, 19606 United States |
|
| Information | |
| Superintendent | Dr. Lawrence W. Mayes Ed.D |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Kindergarten | 85 |
| Grade 1 | 62 |
| Grade 2 | 76 |
| Grade 3 | 81 |
| Grade 4 | 104 |
| Grade 5 | 75 |
| Grade 6 | 82 |
| Grade 7 | 89 |
| Grade 8 | 91 |
| Grade 9 | 71 |
| Grade 10 | 85 |
| Grade 11 | 82 |
| Grade 12 | 91 |
| Other | Enrollment is projected as stable through 2019[1] |
| Mascot | Mountaineers |
| Website | http://www.antietamsd.org/ |
The Antietam School District covers the Borough of Mount Penn and Lower Alsace Township in Berks County, Pennsylvania. The district operates Antietam Middle/Sr High School (7th–12th), Mount Penn Elementary Center (2nd–6th) and Mount Penn Primary Center (K-1st). It encompasses approximately 5 square miles. According to a federal census, it serves a resident population of 7,494. According to District officials, in school year 2007–08 the Antietam School District provided basic educational services to 1,084 pupils through the employment of 92 teachers, 85 full-time and part-time support personnel, and nine administrators.
Contents |
The district is governed by 9 individually elected board members (serve four year terms), the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Pennsylvania General Assembly.[2] The federal government controls programs it funds like Title I funding for low income children in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act which mandates the district focus resources on student success in acquiring reading and math skills.
The Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives Sunshine Review gave the school board and district administration a "D" for transparency based on a review of "What information can people find on their school district's website". It examined the school district's website for information regarding; taxes, the current budget, meetings, school board members names and terms, contracts, audits, public records information and more.[3]
In 2010, Antietam School District was ranked 470th out of 498 Pennsylvania school districts by the Pittsburgh Business Times.[4] The ranking was based on student academic performance on four years of PSSA results in: reading, writing, mathematics and two years of science.
In 2009, the academic achievement of the students at the district ranked 8th percentile among Pennsylvania's 500 school districts. Scale (0–99; 100 is state best)[6]
Graduation rate
In 2010, the high school was in Making Progress: in School Improvement I status. In 2009, the high school is in School Improvement I for low academic achievement.
PSSA Results
11th Grade Reading
2010 – 64% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 65% of 11th graders on grade level.[10]
2009 – 46%, State – 65% (90 pupils)[11]
2008 – 44%, State _ 65%
2007 – 62%, State – 65%
11th Grade Math:
2010 – 45% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 59% of 11th graders are on grade level.
2009 – 48%, State – 56%
2008 – 42%, State – 56%
2007 – 56%, State – 53%[12]
11th Grade Science:
2010 – 43% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 39% of 11th graders are on grade level.
2009 – 27%, State – 40%[13]
2008 – 25%, State – 39%[14]
College remediation: According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 50% of the Antietam School District graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges.[15] Less than 66% of Pennsylvania high school graduates, who enroll in a four-year college in Pennsylvania, will earn a bachelor's degree within six years. Among Pennsylvania high school graduates pursuing an associate degree, only one in three graduate in three years.[16] Per the Pennsylvania Department of Education, one in three recent high school graduates who attend Pennsylvania's public universities and community colleges takes at least one remedial course in math, reading or English.
The Antietam School Board has determined that a total of 27.5 credits are required for graduation. These credits must be earned in grades 9, 10, 11, and 12. These include: 4 credits in English, 4 credits in Social Studies, 3 credits in Health and Physical Education, 3 credits in Science (one must be a Lab Science) and 3 credits in Mathematics.
By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students must complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.[17] The project at Antietam School District offers the student choices: Independent Research/Cultural study, 30 hours of logged Community Service, Career Exploration and Curriculum Projects.[18]
Beginning with the class of 2015, students must take the Keystone Exams in Literature and Algebra 1.[19]
The high school offers a Dual Enrollment program. This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits. Students remain enrolled at their high school. The courses count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. The students continue to have full access to activities and programs at their high school. The college credits are offered at a deeply discounted rate. The state offers a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books.[20] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.[21] The Pennsylvania College Credit Transfer System reported in 2009, that students saved nearly $35.4 million by having their transferred credits count towards a degree under the new system.[22]
For the 2009–10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $24,045 for the program.[23]
8th Grade Reading:
2010 – 82% on grade level. State: 81% of 8th graders were on grade level. (72 pupils)
2009 – 71%, State – 80.9% (72 pupils)
2008 – 57%, State – 78%
8th Grade Math:
2010 – 65% on grade level. State – 75% of 8th graders were on grade level.
2009 – 53%, State – 71%
2008 – 45%, State – 70%
8th Grade Science:
2010 – 55% on grade level. State – 57% of 8th graders were on grade level.
2009 – 52%, State – 55%
2008 – 31%, State – 50%
7th Grade Reading:
2010 – 61% on grade level. State – 73% of 7th graders were on grade level. (77 pupils)
2009 – 52%, State – 71% (77 pupils)
2008 – 49%, State – 70%
7th Grade Math:
2009 – 72% on grade level. State – 77% of 7th graders were on grade level.
2009 – 58%, State – 75%
2008 – 50%, State – 70%
In 2010, the school is in Did Not Make AYP status for low student achievement. The school reports that there is a 96% attendance rate.[24]
6th Grade Reading:
2010 – 69% on grade level. State – 68% (67 pupils)
2009 – 57%, State – 67% (84 pupils)
2008 – 65%, State – 67% (72 pupils)
6th Grade Math:
2010 – 81% on grade level. State – 78%
2009 – 73%, State – 75%
2008 – 57%, State – 72%
5th Grade Reading:
2010 – 47% on grade level. State – 64% (69 pupils)
2009 – 62%, State – 64% (78 pupils)
2008 – 42%, State – 61% (78 pupils)
5th Grade Math:
2010 – 73% on grade level. State – 74%
2009 – 75%, State – 73%
2008 – 53%, State – 73%
4th Grade Reading:
2009 – 63% on grade level. State – 72% (89 pupils)
2009 – 72%, State – 72% (72 pupils)
2008 – 62%, State – 70% (78 pupils)
4th Grade Math:
2010 – 84% on grade level. State – 84%
2009 – 78%, State – 81%
2008 – 69%, State – 79%
4th Grade Science:
2010 – 76% on grade level. State – 81%
2009 – 91%, State – 83%
2008 – 81%, State – 81%
3rd Grade Reading:
2010 – 67% on grade level. State – 75% (81 pupils)
2009 – 66%, State – 77% (98 pupils)
2008 – 63%, State – 77% (68 pupils)
3rd Grade Math:
2009 – 75% on grade level. State – 84%
2009 – 74%, State – 81%
2008 – 70%, State – 80%
MT PENN PRIMARY CTR School AYP Overview [1]
Attendance rate is reported as 95% in 2010.
In December 2009, the district administration reported that 209 pupils or 19.5% of the district's pupils received Special Education services.[25]
The District engages in identification procedures to ensure that eligible students receive an appropriate educational program consisting of special education and related services, individualized to meet student needs. At no cost to the parents, these services are provided in compliance with state and federal law; and are reasonably calculated to yield meaningful educational benefit and student progress. To identify students who may be eligible for special education, various screening activities are conducted on an ongoing basis. These screening activities include: review of group-based data (cumulative records, enrollment records, health records, report cards, ability and achievement test scores); hearing, vision, motor, and speech/language screening; and review by the Instructional Support Team or Student Assistance Team. When screening results suggest that the student may be eligible, the District seeks parental consent to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation. Parents who suspect their child is eligible may verbally request a multidisciplinary evaluation from a professional employee of the District or contact the Supervisor of Special Education.[26]
In 2010, the state of Pennsylvania provided $1,026,815 for Special Education services. The funds were distributed to districts based on a state policy which estimates that 16% of the district's pupils are receiving special education services. This funding is in addition to the state's basic education per pupil funding, as well as, all other state and federal funding.[27]
Antietam School District received a $495,797 supplement for special education services in 2010.[28]
The Antietam School District administration reported there were zero incidents of bullying in the district in 2009.[29][30]
The Antietam School Board has provided the district's antibully policy online.[31] All Pennsylvania schools are required to have an anti-bullying policy incorporated into their Code of Student Conduct. The policy must identify disciplinary actions for bullying and designate a school staff person to receive complaints of bullying. The policy must be available on the school's website and posted in every classroom. All Pennsylvania public schools must provide a copy of its anti-bullying policy to the Office for Safe Schools every year, and shall review their policy every three years. Additionally, the district must conduct an annual review of that policy with students.[32] The Center for Schools and Communities works in partnership with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime & Delinquency and the Pennsylvania Department of Education to assist schools and communities as they research, select and implement bullying prevention programs and initiatives.[33]
Education standards relating to student safety and antiharassment programs are described in the 10.3. Safety and Injury Prevention in the Pennsylvania Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education.[34]
In 2009, the Antietam School District employed nearly 100 teachers. The average teacher salary in the district was $49,000 for 181 days worked. The starting salary was reported as $38,000.[35] In Pennsylvania the average teacher salary for Pennsylvania's 124,100 public school teachers was $54,977 in 2008.[36] As of 2007, Pennsylvania ranked in the top 10 states in average teacher salaries. When adjusted for cost of living Pennsylvania ranked fourth in the nation for teacher compensation.[37] Additionally, the teachers receive a defined benefit pension, health insurance, professional development reimbursement, 3 paid personal days and 10 sick days, long term disability insurance, retirement bonus of $5,000, life insurance and other benefits.[38] According to State Rep. Glen Grell, a trustee of the Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System Board, a 40-year educator can retire with a pension equal to 100 percent of their final salary.[39]
The district administrative costs per pupil in 2008 were $954.95 per pupil. This ranked 66th among the 500 Pennsylvania public schools. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil.[40]
In 2008, the Antietam School District reported an unreserved designated fund balance of zero and a unreserved-undesignated fund balance of $1,285,219.[41]
The district reported spending $11,852 per pupil in 2008. This ranked 290th among PA school districts.[42]
The district is funded by a combination of: a local income tax, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government.[43] Grants can provide an opportunity to supplement school funding without raising local taxes. In the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pension income and Social Security income are exempted from state personal income tax and local earned income tax, regardless of the income level.[44]
For the 2010–11 school year, the state gave a 2% increase in basic education funding to the Antietam School District for $3,353,643. The highest increase in BEF allotted to schools in Berks County went to Muhlenberg School District at 8.17%. In the commonwealth, the highest increase in state funding went to Kennett Consolidated School District which received a 23.65% increase. Among the 500 Pennsylvania public school district, 150 received the base 2% increase in 2010.[45]
For the 2009–2010 budget year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a 8.88% increase in Basic Education Funding to Antietam School District, for a total of $3,287,886. Nine Berks County school districts received increases of less than 6% in Basic Education Funding in 2009–10. Muhlenberg School District received a 22.31% increase. Reading School District received an 13.29% increase. In Pennsylvania, 15 school districts received Basic Education Funding increases in excess of 10% in 2009. Ninety Pennsylvania school districts received a base increase of 2% including two districts in Berks County. The state's Basic Education Funding to the Antietam School District in 2008–09 was $3,019,653.[46] The amount of increase each school district receives is determined by the Governor and the Secretary of Education through the allocation set in the budget proposal made in February each year.[47]
In 2008 the district reported that 341 students participated in the federal free and reduced lunch program due to low family income.[48]
Beginning in 2004–2005, the state launched the Accountability Block Grant school funding. This program has provided $1.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s school districts. The Accountability Block Grant program requires that its taxpayer dollars are focused on specific interventions that are most likely to increase student academic achievement. These interventions include: teacher training, All Day Kindergarten, lower class size K-3rd grade, literacy and math coaching programs that provide teachers with individualized job-embedded professional development to improve their instruction, before or after school tutoring assistance to struggling students, For 2010–11 the Antietam School District applied for and received $153,473 in addition to all other state and federal funding. The district used the funding to provide extensive teacher training and to provide full day kindergarten for the 6th year.[49][50]
The Classroom for the Future state program provided districts with hundreds of thousands of extra state funding to buy laptop computers for each core curriculum high school class (English, Science, History, Math) and paid for teacher training to optimize the computers use. The program was funded from 2006–2009. Antietam School District did not apply for funding in 2006–07 nor in 2007–08. In 2008–09 it received $74,691. Of the 501 public school districts in Pennsylvania, 447 of them received Classrooms for the Future grant awards[51]
The district received an extra $486,880 in ARRA – Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low income students.[52] This funding was for 2009–10 to 2010–2011 school years.
School district officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant. When approved for the grant, the district will receive hundreds of thousands of additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement.[53] Participation required the administration, the school board and the local teachers' union to sign an agreement to prioritize improving student academic success. In Pennsylvania, 120 public school districts and 56 charter schools agreed to participate.[54] Pennsylvania was not approved for the grant. The failure of districts to agree to participate was cited as one reason that Pennsylvania was not approved.[55]
The Antietam School Board did not participate in the Pennsylvania Department of Education Common Cents program. The program called for the state to audit the district, at no cost to local taxpayers, to identify ways the district could save tax dollars.[56] After the review of the information, the district was not required to implement the recommended cost savings changes.
The Antietam School Board set property tax rates in 2010–11 at 32.3500 mills.[57] A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value. Irregular property reassessments have become a serious issue in the commonwealth as it creates a significant disparity in taxation within a community and across a region. On the local level, Pennsylvania school district revenues are dominated by two main sources: 1) Property tax collections, which account for the vast majority (between 75–85%) of local revenues; and 2) Act 511 tax collections (Local Tax Enabling Act), which are around 15% of revenues for school districts.[58]
The Act 1 of 2006 Index regulates the rates at which each school district can raise property taxes in Pennsylvania. Districts are not allowed to raise taxes above that index unless they allow voters to vote by referendum, or they seek an exception from the state Department of Education. The base index for the 2011–2012 school year is 1.4 percent, but the Act 1 Index can be adjusted higher, depending on a number of factors, such as property values and the personal income of district residents. Act 1 included 10 exceptions including: increasing pension costs, increases in special education costs, a catastrophe like a flood, increase in health insurance costs for contracts in effect on or before 2006 or dwindling tax bases. The base index is the average of the percentage increase in the statewide average weekly wage, as determined by the PA Department of Labor and Industry, for the preceding calendar year and the percentage increase in the Employment Cost Index for Elementary and Secondary Schools, as determined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the U.S. Department of Labor, for the previous 12-month period ending June 30. For a school district with a market value/personal income aid ratio (MV/PI AR) greater than 0.4000, its index equals the base index multiplied by the sum of .75 and its MV/PI AR for the current year.[61]
The School District Adjusted Index for the Antietam School District 2006–2007 through 2011–2012.[62]
The Antietam School Board did not apply for any exceptions to exceed the Act 1 index for the budgets in 2009–10 nor in 2010–11.[63] In the Spring of 2010, 135 Pennsylvania school boards asked to exceed their adjusted index. Approval was granted to 133 of them and 128 sought an exception for pension costs increases.[64]
In 2010, property tax relief for Antietam School District was set at $227 for 2,019 approved properties.[65] In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Antietam School District was $228 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 2,008 property owners applied for the tax relief.[66] In Pennsylvania the highest 2010 property tax relief was for Chester Upland School District of Delaware County which was given $632 per homestead. This was the second year Chester Upland School District got the highest amount. The relief was subtracted from the total annual school property tax bill. Property owners apply for the relief through the county Treasurer's office. Farmers can qualify for a farmstead exemption on building used for agricultural purposes. The farm must be at least 10 contiguous acres and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. In Berks County, 65% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.[67]
Additionally, the Pennsylvania Property Tax/Rent Rebate program is provided for low income Pennsylvanians aged 65 and older; widows and widowers aged 50 and older; and people with disabilities age 18 and older. The income limit is $35,000 for homeowners. The maximum rebate for both homeowners and renters is $650. Applicants can exclude one-half (1/2) of their Social Security income, so people who make substantially more than $35,000 may still qualify for a rebate. Individuals must apply annually for the rebate. This can be taken in addition to Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief.
Property taxes in Pennsylvania are relatively high on a national scale. According to the Tax Foundation, Pennsylvania ranked 11th in the U.S. in 2008 in terms of property taxes paid as a percentage of home value (1.34%) and 12th in the country in terms of property taxes as a percentage of income (3.55%).[68]
The district offers resident senior citizens the opportunity to exchange volunteer hours for a tax credit. The program is open to residents who are 62 years of age or older and pay residential property taxes. Participants may volunteer for up to 100 hours of service in exchange for $500 reduction in next year's school property taxes per residence.[69]
The district offers a variety of clubs, activities and sports. Eligibility for participation is set by school board policy[70] and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association. Antietam and Muhlenberg school districts operate a cooperative sports agreement for 11 sports for both boys and girls, including football, wrestling, swimming and diving and cross country.[71] The program started in 1985–1986 school year.
By Pennsylvania law, all K-12 students in the district, including those who attend a private nonpublic school, cyber charter school, charter school and those homeschooled, are eligible to participate in the extracurricular programs including all athletics. They must meet the same eligibility rules as the students enrolled in the district's schools.[72][73]