| Penns Valley Area School District | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Centre County, Pennsylvania |
|
| Information | |
| Superintendent | Mr. Brian Griffith |
| Grades | K-12 |
| Kindergarten | 139 |
| Grade 1 | 142 |
| Grade 2 | 128 |
| Grade 3 | 137 |
| Grade 4 | 136 |
| Grade 5 | 118 |
| Grade 6 | 127 |
| Grade 7 | 131 |
| Grade 8 | 121 |
| Grade 9 | 162 |
| Grade 10 | 169 |
| Grade 11 | 133 |
| Grade 12 | 159 |
| Mascot | Rams |
| Website | http://pennsvalley.org/ |
The Penns Valley Area School District is a public school district serving the eastern portions of Centre County, Pennsylvania. It encompasses the boroughs of Centre Hall and Millheim, Pennsylvania, as well as the townships of Potter, Gregg, Penn, Miles, and Haines. It encompasses an area of 254.4 square miles. The school district has a population of 11,380, according to the 2000 federal census. According to school district administrative officials, during the 2005-06 school year, the district provided basic educational services to 1,573 pupils through the employment of 9 administrators, 125 teachers, and 81 full-time and part-time support personnel. Special education was provided by the district and the Central Intermediate Unit #10. Occupational training and adult education in various vocational and technical fields were provided by the district and the Central Pennsylvania Institute of Science and Technology.
Contents |
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.[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]
Penns Valley School District was ranked 114th out of the 498 ranked Pennsylvania school districts, in 2011, by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on student academic achievement as demonstrated by 5 years of PSSA results in: reading, writing, math, and three years of science.[4]
In 2009, the academic achievement of the students in the Penns Valley Area School District was in the 75th percentile among Pennsylvania's 500 public school districts. Scale (0-99; 100 is state best) [7]
In 2011, the graduation rate was 94%.[8] In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4 year cohort graduation rate. Penns Valley School District's rate was 91% for 2010.[9]
The Penns Valley Junior Senior High School achieved AYP status in 2011 and 2010.[13] The school was in Making Progress: in School Improvement I for low student achievement of special education students in 2009.
8th Grade Science:
7th Grade Math:
The Penns Valley Area School Board has determined that 28 credits are required for graduation including: English 4 credits, Math 4 credits, Science 4 credits, Social Studies 4 credits, Physical Education 2 credits, Health 0.5 credits, Driver Education 0.5 credit, Arts/Humanities 2 credits, Computer Literacy I 0.5 credits and Electives 6.5 credits.[24] Graduation from the Penns Valley Area High School requires a student to achieve 54 student learning outcomes. The 54 Learning Outcomes were approved by the Penns Valley Area School Board in August, 1996.
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.[25]
Beginning with the class of 2015, students must take the Keystone Exams in Literature and Algebra 1.[26][27]
According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 16% of Penns Valley Area 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.[28] 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.[29] 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.
In 2009, the administrative reported there were 50 incidents of bullying in the district.[30][31]
The Penns Valley Area School Board has provided the district's antibully policy online.[32] 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.[33] 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.[34]
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.[35]
Penns Valley Area School Board established a district wellness policy in June 2006 - Policy 246.[36] The policy deals with nutritious meals served at school, the control of access to some foods and beverages during school hours, age appropriate nutrition education for all students, and physical education for students K-12. The policy is in response to state mandates and federal legislation (P.L. 108 - 265). The law dictates that each school district participating in a program authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq) or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq) "shall establish a local school wellness policy by School Year 2006."
The legislation placed the responsibility of developing a wellness policy at the local level so the individual needs of each district can be addressed. According to the requirements for the Local Wellness Policy, school districts must set goals for nutrition education and physical education that are aligned with the Pennsylvania State Academic Standards for Health, Safety and Physical Education, campus food provision, and other school-based activities designed to promote student wellness. Additionally, districts were required to involve a broad group of individuals in policy development and to have a plan for measuring policy implementation. Districts were offered a choice of levels of implementation for limiting or prohibiting low nutrition foods on the school campus. In final implementation these regulations prohibit some foods and beverages on the school campus.[37] The policy requires that the Superintendent or designee shall report to the Board on the district’s compliance with law and policies related to student wellness.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education required the district to submit a copy of the policy for approval.
Penns Valley Area School District provides a taxpayer funded preschool at Rebersburg Elementary School.
In 2009, the school administration reports employing over 130 teachers with a salary range of $37,000 to $89,000.[38] The average teacher's salary is $55,020.[39]
In 2007, the district employed 106 teachers. The average teacher salary in the district was $50,786 for 189 days (182 days of instruction) worked.[40] 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.[41] Additionally, the teachers receive a defined benefit pension, health insurance, life insurance, professional development reimbursement, personal days - 3, sick days, bereavement days 2, income protection insurance, and other benefits.[42]
The district administrative costs per pupil in 2008 were $749.23 per pupil. This ranked 259th out of 500 school districts in Pennsylvania. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil.[43] In December 2011, the school board voted unanimously to renew Superintendent Brian Griffith' employment contract through June 2017, with yearly raises of 2% to 4% and a potential $5000 annual bonus.[44]
Penns Valley Area School District reports spending $13,330 per pupil which ranked 148th among Pennsylvania school districts.[45]
In July 2009, the Pennsylvania Auditor General conducted a performance audit of the district. The findings were reported to the school board and school administration.[46]
Reserves In 2008, the district reported a $2,387,182 in a unreserved-designated fund balance. The undesignated fund balance was repoted as zero.[47]
The district is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. 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 the of the level wealth.[48]
In 2011-12, the district will receive $4,311,085 in state Basic Education Funding.[49][50] Additionally, the district will receive $80,445 in Accountability Block Grant funding. The enacted Pennsylvania state education budget includes $5,354,629,000 for the 2011-2012 Basic Education Funding appropriation. This amount is a $233,290,000 increase (4.6%) over the enacted State appropriation for 2010-2011. The highest increase in state basic education funding was awarded to Duquesne City School District which got a 49% increase in state funding for 2011-12.[51] Districts experienced a reduction in funding due to the loss of federal stimulus funding which ended in 2011.
In 2010, the district reported that 453 pupils received a free or reduced lunch due to the family meeting the federal poverty level.
For the 2010-11 budget year, the Penns Valley Area School District was allotted a 5.17% increase in state Basic Education Funding for a total of $4,710,394. This was the highest increase among Centre County public school districts. One hundred fifty Pennsylvania school districts received the base 2% increase. For 2010-11, highest increase in Pennsylvania went to Kennett Consolidated School District in Chester County which received a 23.65% increase in state funding.[52] The amount of increase each school district receives is set by the Governor and the Secretary of Education as a part of the state budget proposal given each February.[53]
In the 2009-2010 budget year the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a 3.89% increase in Basic Education funding for a total of $4,300,326. The state Basic Education funding to the Penns Valley Area School District in 2008-09 was $4,478,635. This was the highest increase in Centre County. Muhlenberg School District of Berks County received an increase of 22.31 percent. Sixteen school districts received an increase in funding of over 10 percent in 2009.[54]
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 district applied for and received $218,348 in addition to all other state and federal funding. The Penns Valley Area School District uses the funding to provide Full Day Kindergarten for the fifth year.[55][56]
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. Penns Valley Area School District did not apply for funding in 2006-07. In 2007-08 it received $188,432. In 2008-09, the district received $45,413 for a total funding of $233,845.[57]
The district received $1,097,354 in ARRA - Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low income students.[58] The funding is for 2009-10- and 2010-2011. The district reported that 413 students qualified for the Federal free or reduced lunch program due to a low family income.
School district officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant which would have brought the district nearly one million additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement.[59] Participation required the administration, the school board and the local teachers' union to sign an agreement to prioritize improving student academic success.[60] In Pennsylvania, 120 public school districts and 56 charter schools agreed to participate. 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.[61]
The Penns Valley Area School Board decided to 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.[62] After the review of the information, the district was not required to implement the recommended cost savings changes.
Penns Valley Area School Board set property tax rates for the 2011-12 school year at 41.7130 mills.[63] A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of a property's assessed value. Property taxes, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, apply only to real estate - land and buildings. The property tax is not levied on cars, business inventory, or other personal property. Certain types of property are exempt from property taxes including: places of worship, places of burial, private social clubs, charitable and educational institutions and government property. Irregular property reassessments have become a serious issue in the commonwealth as it creates a significant disparity in taxation within a community, school district and across a region. On the local level, Pennsylvania 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, which are around 15% of revenues for school districts.[64]
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 fire or flood, increase in health insurance costs for contracts in effect in 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.[68]
The School District Adjusted Index for the Penns Valley Area School District 2006-2007 through 2010-2011.[69]
For the 2011-12 school year, the Penns Valley School Board applied for an exception to exceed the Act 1 Index due to anticipated pension costs. Each year the Penns Valley School Board has the option of adopting either 1) a resolution in January certifying they will not increase taxes above their index or 2) a preliminary budget in February. A school district adopting the resolution may not apply for referendum exceptions or ask voters for a tax increase above the inflation index. A specific timeline for these decisions is publisher each year by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.[70]
According to a state report, for the 2011-2012 school year budgets, 247 school districts adopted a resolution certifying that tax rates would not be increased above their index; 250 school districts adopted a preliminary budget. Of the 250 school districts that adopted a preliminary budget, 231 adopted real estate tax rates that exceeded their index. Tax rate increases in the other 19 school districts that adopted a preliminary budget did not exceed the school district’s index. Of the districts who sought exceptions 221 used the pension costs exemption and 171 sought a Special Education costs exemption. Only 1 school district sought an exemption for Nonacademic School Construction Project, while 1 sought an exception for Electoral debt for school construction.[71]
The Penns Valley Area School Board applied for an exception to exceed the Act 1 Index for the budget year 2010-2011. They cited future pension costs as the rational. The PDE gave them approval.[72] 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.[73]
In 2010, property tax relief for 2,428 approved residents of Avella Area School District was set at $155 for 3614 approved homesteads.[74] In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Penns Valley Area School District was $157 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 3,577 property owners applied for the tax relief. In Centre County the highest tax relief went to Bellefonte Area School District at $196 in 2009.[75] The greatest tax relief in Pennsylvania went to the Chester Upland School District of Delaware County set at $632 in 2009 and $641 in 2010.[76] 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 Centre County, 72% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.
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 people who have an income of 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%).[77][78]
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 people who have an income of 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%).[79]
The school offers a wide variety of clubs, activities and sports.[80][81][82]
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.[83][84][85]
References:
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". 2010. http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/school_assessments/7442 Pennsylvania 2009 -2010 PSSA and AYP Results Pennsylvania Department of Education.|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". The Morning Call. http://projects.mcall.com/school_consolidation/state/county/0/8/.