Pottsville Area, Gillingham trying to work out charter
Oct. 16—POTTSVILLE — Negotiations are ongoing between Pottsville Area School District and Gillingham Charter School for the charter renewal of the Howard Avenue school.
"Gillingham Charter School is operating, pending a renewal decision," Pottsville Area solicitor Kevin Reid said Thursday.
The school's most recent charter was approved from July 1, 2017, to June 30, 2022. The initial charter was approved June 7, 2011, by the State Charter School Appeal Board. The school district had previously rejected its proposal twice in 2010 before it was approved by the appeal board.
Pottsville Area Superintendent Sarah Yoder said Thursday that negotiations are ongoing with the charter school. She declined further comment on when a resolution could be reached.
The district is making direct payments to the charter school for student enrollment.
Pottsville Area school board President Michael Cardamone said Friday that the legal teams from the school district and Gillingham are in discussions.
"I am optimistic that we will have a resolution," he said.
Nicolle Hutchinson, executive director and instructional coach at Gillingham, said in an email Friday that the charter renewal application was submitted to the school district.
"We are still in the process of renewal, so we can't comment on the proceedings at this time," Hutchinson said.
Yoder said the district received the charter renewal request from Gillingham in a letter dated July 26, 2021. The district responded in a letter dated Aug. 25, 2021, which requested that the school provide documents to support its renewal within 90 days, she said. In a letter dated Nov. 11, 2021, Gillingham requested a 30-day extension.
The extension was approved and the school district received the renewal application Dec. 23, 2021. The district responded to the initial documents the school submitted, asking for clarification and information not submitted with the renewal request. Specifically, the school requested student achievement, curriculum, special education, finance, discipline/safety, operations and staff.
Pottsville Area received a second written response April 6. However, the requested information was still missing, including teacher certification.
An update on the progress was provided at Wednesday's school board meeting.
"While a substantial number of additional submissions were provided by Gillingham Charter School to clarify and support the charter school renewal request, the district has concerns," according to the school board agenda.
The district is especially concerned with the number of student withdrawals.
"The student retention rate, calculated as the percent of students enrolled for a full year who return for the following school year (excluding graduates) was an average of 48% during the four school years in the review," according to the agenda.
Yoder said 82 students from Pottsville Area were enrolled in the school as of Oct. 5, a decrease from 88 in September.
Contact the writer: amarchiano@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023
