Connellsville Area School District

Connellsville Area School District
Address
732 Rock Ridge Road Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Fayette, 15425 United States
Information
Superintendent	Mr. David R. Goodin
Grades	K-12
Kindergarten	367
Grade 1	395
Grade 2	376
Grade 3	388
Grade 4	381
Grade 5	384
Grade 6	390
Grade 7	385
Grade 8	398
Grade 9	385
Grade 10	434
Grade 11	307
Grade 12	247
Other	Enrollment projected to decline to 4206 in 2020. [2]
Mascot	Falcons
Website	http://wwww.casdfalcons.org/

The Connellsville Area School District is a large rural, public school district which covers the City of Connellsville, the Boroughs of Dawson, Dunbar, Ohiopyle, Seven Springs, South Connellsville and Vanderbilt and Bullskin Township, Connellsville Township, Dunbar Township, Saltlick Township, Springfield Township and Stewart Township in Fayette County, Pennsylvania.

Contents 1 Schools 1.1 Senior High Schools 1.2 Junior High Schools 1.3 Elementary Schools 2 Governance 3 Academic Achievement 3.1 Graduation Rate 3.2 High School 3.3 College Remediation Rate 3.4 Dual enrollment 3.5 Graduation requirements 3.6 SAT Scores 3.7 Connellsville Junior High School East 4 Real Estate Taxes 4.1 Property Tax Relief 5 References

Schools

The district operates twelve schools in the 200+ Square Mile District:

Senior High Schools

• Connellsville Area Senior High School is located on Falcon Drive in the city limits of Connellsville. The school was built in 1970 and is now under renovation. About 1325 students in grades 10-12 attend CASHS.

• Connellsville Area Career & Technology Center is located above the high school, and was built in 1972. The center serves about 500 students in grades 10-12 and about 400 students from the two Junior High Schools, who attend the program for a half-a-day in exploratory courses. CACTC was renovated during the 2008-09 school term

Junior High Schools

There are two rivalry junior high schools in the district,which holds students in grades 7-9.

• Junior High East is located on Locust Street Extension in Connellsville, PA. The school was constructed in 1956 as Connellsville Joint High School, when the district was formed in 1966, the name was changed to Connellsville Area High School until the present school was built, then it became a Junior High School. There was extensive renovations and additions to the school in 1998. About 700 students attend this school.

• Junior High West is located on Falls Avenue in Connellsville, PA. The former school at this site was renovated and the added 1960 section is all that stays of the former Dunbar Township High School days. The former school was torn down and the 1960 section was renovated and a new building was built in 1999. West is home to about 600 pupils.

Elementary Schools

There are eight elementary schools in the district, all facilitate classes for grades K-6.

• Bullskin Township Elementary School is located on Pleasant Valley Road (State Route 982) in Connellsville, PA, and was built in 1956. The last renovation was in 1998, when also a 4,000 sq ft (370 m²). addition was added to the structure. About 450 students attend school here.

• Clifford N. Pritts Elementary School is located on Indian Creek Valley Road (State Routes 381/711) in Melcroft, PA, and was built in 1968. There are about 300 students attending this faciltiy.

• Connellsville Township Elementary School is located on Rock Ridge Road in Connellsville, PA. The school was built in the late 1960s and also houses the district's administration offices. The student census is around 175.

• Dunbar Borough Elementary School is located off of Pechin Road in Dunbar, PA. The school was built in 1974 and has about 175 students.

• Dunbar Township Elementary School is located on Ridge Boulevard near Connellsville, PA. The school holds a census of about 600 and was built in 1966.

• South Side Elementary School is located on Race Street in Connellsville, PA and was built in 1965. There are about 325 pupils on the SSE Campus

• Springfield Township Elementary School was built in 2004 and is located on School House Lane in Normalville, PA.

• Zachariah Connell Elementary School is located on Park Street in Connellsville, PA was opened in 1967 and has a census of about 400.

Governance

The school 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.^[3] 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 an "F" 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.^[4]

Academic Achievement

Connellsville Area School district is one of three public school districts, in Pennsylvania, in Making Progress: in District Improvement I due to district wide low student academic achievement. ^[5] In 2010, the district was in District Improvement I status. ^[6] The Administration was required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education to develop and submit a district wide plan to improve student achievement.

Connellsville Area School District was ranked 456th out of 498 Pennsylvania school districts in 2011, by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on five years of student academic performance based on the PSSAs for: reading, writing, math and three years of science. ^[7]

• 2010 - 451st ^[8]
• 2009 - 437th
• 2008 - 447th
• 2007 - 442nd out of 501 Pennsylvania school districts. .^[9]

In 2009, the academic achievement of the students of Connelsville Area School DIstrict was in the bottom 6 percentile among 500 Pennsylvania School Districts. Scale - (0-99; 100 is state best) ^[10]

Graduation Rate

In 2011, the graduation rate was 84%. ^[11] In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4 year cohort graduation rate. Connellsville Area Senior High School's rate was 76% for 2010.^[12]

According to traditional graduation rate calculations

• 2010 - 87% ^[13]
• 2009 - 80% ^[14]
• 2008 - 77%
• 2007 - 77% % ^[15]

High School

In 2011, the high school achieved AYP status. In 2010, the high school was in Making Progress: in Corrective Action II status due to chronic, low student achievement. In 2009, the school was in Corrective Action Level II due to long standing poor student achievement. ^[16]

PSSA Results

11th Grade Reading:

• 2011 - 72% on grade level, (9% below basic). State - 69.1% of 11th graders are on grade level. ^[17]
• 2010 - 73% (11% below basic). State - 66% ^[18]
• 2009 - 60%, State - 65% ^{[19] [20]}
• 2008 - 69%, State - 65%
• 2007 - 66%, State - 65% ^[21]

11th Grade Math:

• 2011 - 70%, on grade level (14% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 60.3% of 11th graders are on grade level. ^[22]
• 2010 - 62%, (23% below basic). State - 59%
• 2009 - 44%, State - 56% ^[23]
• 2008 - 59%, State - 56% ^[24]
• 2007 - 50%, State - 53% ^[25]

11th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 29% on grade level (14% below basic). State - 40% of 11th graders were on grade level. ^[26]
• 2010 - 38% (12% below basic). State - 39%
• 2009 - 33%, State - 40% ^[27]
• 2008 - 32%, State - 39%^[28]

College Remediation Rate

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 31% of the Connellsville Area High School 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. ^[29] 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.^[30] 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.

Dual enrollment

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^[31] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.^[32]

For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $18,785 for the program. ^[33]

Graduation requirements

The School Board has determined that a pupil must earn 24.5 credits to graduate including: Math 3 units (include 1 Geometry Unit), English 4 units, social studies 3.5 units, science 3 (must include Biology unit), Physical Education 3 courses, Health 0.5 unit, ½ unit of PASS and electives. ^[34]

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.^[35]

By Pennsylvania School Board regulations, for the graduating classes of 2015 and 2016, students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in Algebra I, Biology, English Composition, and Literature for which the Keystone Exams serve as the final course exams. Students’ Keystone Exam scores shall count for at least one-third of the final course grade. ^{[36] [37] [38]}

SAT Scores

In 2010-2011, 205 students took the SAT exams. The district's Verbal Average Score was 469. The Math average score was 473. The Writing average score was 451. ^[39] Pennsylvania ranked 40th among state with SAT scores: Verbal - 493, Math - 501, Writing - 479. ^[40] In the United States 1.65 million students took the exam in 2011. They averaged 497 (out of 800) verbal, 514 math and 489 in writing. ^[41]

Connellsville Junior High School East

In 2011, the school was in Making Progress: in Corrective Action I status. In 2010 the school was in Corrective Action I status due to chronic, low student achievement. ^[42] For the past five years, Connellsville Junior High School East has student achievement has been lower than state levels, in grades 7 and 8, in reading, math and science. The school's attendance rate was 91% in both 2010 and 2011. ^[43]

PSSA Results: 8th Grade Reading:

• 2011 - 70% on grade level (19% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 81.8% of 8th graders on grade level. ^[44]
• 2010 - 71% (14% below basic). State - 81%
• 2009 - 65% (17% below basic), State - 80%
• 2008 - 65% (15% below basic), State - 78% ^[45]
• 2007 - 70% (14% below basic), State - 75%

8th Grade Math:

• 2011 - 62% on grade level (17% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 76.9% of 8th graders are on grade level.
• 2010 - 61% (15% below basic). State - 75% ^[46]
• 2009 - 52% (17% below basic). State - 71% ^[47]
• 2008 - 54% (27% below basic). State - 70%
• 2007 - 46% (26% below basic). State - 68%

8th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 45% on grade level (32% below basic). State – 58.3% of 8th graders were on grade level.
• 2010 - 47% (31% below basic). State – 57% ^[48]
• 2009 - 45% (25% below basic). State - 55% ^[49]
• 2008 - 43%, (25% below basic). State - 52% ^[50]

7th Grade Reading 2011 - 66% on grade level (13% below basic). State – 76% 2010 - 61% (16% below basic). State - 73% 2009 - 56% (17% below basic). State - 71% 2008 - 60% (18% below basic). State - 70% 2007 - 54% (21% below basic). State - 67%

7th Grade Math: 2011 - 66% on grade level (19% below basic). State - 78.6% 2010 - 69% (16% below basic). State - 77% 2009 - 70% (13% below basic), State - 75% 2008 - 65% (15% below basic), State - 71% 2007 - 51% (27% below basic), State - 67%

Real Estate Taxes

Property tax rates in 2009 were set at 12.6000 mills.^[51] 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.

Property Tax Relief

In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Connellsville Area School District was set at $151 for the 9,710 approved primary homesteads and farmsteads.^[52] The highest tax relief in Fayette County was given to Uniontown Area School District which was set at $200. In 2009, Connellsville Area School District tax relief was set at $152 for 9,623 homesteads.^[53] 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 (40,000 m²) and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. In Fayette County, 72% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.^[54] Pennsylvania awarded the highest property tax relief to residents of the Chester-Upland School District in Delaware County at $632 per homestead and farmstead in 2010.^[55] This was the second year CUSD was the top recipient.

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, consequently individuals whose income is 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%).^[56]

References