Chartiers Valley School District


Chartiers Valley School District is a suburban borough school district that serves an area southwest of Pittsburgh, including the Boroughs of Bridgeville and Heidelberg and Collier Township and Scott Township in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The district was formed in 1956. Chartiers Valley School District encompasses approximately 18 square miles. According to 2000 federal census data, it serves a resident population of 29,119. In 2009, the district residents' per capita income was $23,365, while the median family income was $51,647. According to District officials, in school year 2007-08 the Chartiers Valley School District provided basic educational services to 3,471 pupils through the employment of 264 teachers, 255 full-time and part-time support personnel, and 22 administrators. Chartiers Valley School District received more than $9.1 million in state funding in school year 2007-08.
The district operates one high school, one middle school, one intermediate school and one primary school.
The district borders eight other school districts: Montour S.D., Mt. Lebanon S.D., Keystone Oaks S.D., Upper St. Clair S.D., South Fayette S.D., West Allegheny S.D., Carlynton S.D. and Pittsburgh S.D.
The school district is named after Pierre Chartiers who established a trading post in the area in 1743.

Schools

Chartiers Valley School District operates four schools. They are:
;State PSSA Standardized Test Score Rankings
In 2011, Chartiers Valley School District ranked 158th out of 498 Pennsylvania districts. The ranking is based on five years of student academic achievement as demonstrated by PSSAs results in reading, writing, math and three years of science.
Chartiers Valley School District was ranked 38th out of 105 western Pennsylvania school districts in 2009 by the Pittsburgh Business Times. The ranking was based on three years of student academic performance on the PSSAs on: math, reading, writing and one year of science. The school district was ranked 48th out of 105 western Pennsylvania school districts in 2008 by the Pittsburgh Business Times.

High school

In 2010 the high school achieved AYP status. In 2009 the school was in Warning status due to chronic, low student achievement.
;PSSA Results
;11th Grade Reading
;11th Grade Math:
11th Grade Science:
College remediation According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 32% of Chartiers Valley 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. Bordering school districts range from 17% to 53%. 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. 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.

Graduation requirements

The Chartiers Valley School Board requires that a student earn 28 credits to graduate, including: English 4 credits, Mathematics 3 credits, Science 3 credits, Social Studies 3 credits, Technology 1 credit, Health/Phys. Ed. 1.50 credits, FLEX program 1 credit, Arts and Humanities 3 credits and Electives 8 credits. Additionally, students must score in the proficient or advanced levels on the PSSA or a local assessment in order to graduate.
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.
By Pennsylvania School Board regulations, for the graduating classes 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.

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. Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.
For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $14,519 for the program.

Middle school

Chartiers Valley Middle School provides grades 6th through 8th grades. The school achieved AYP status in 2009 and 2010. The attendance rate was 95% in both years.
8th Grade Reading
8th Grade Math:
8th Grade Science:
7th Grade Reading
7th Grade Math:
6th Grade Reading:
6th Grade Math:
For 2009 and 2010, the school achieved AYP Status. The attendance rate was 96% in both years.
5th Grade Reading:
5th Grade Math:
;4th Grade Reading:
;4th Grade Math:
;4th Grade Science:
;3rd Grade Reading:
;3rd Grade Math:
High School PSSA standardized tests are administered statewide to public high schools. Chartiers Valley's rankings are as follows:
In December 2009, the district administration reported that 377 pupils or 11% of the district's pupils received Special Education services.
In order to comply with state and federal laws, 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 ; hearing, vision, motor, and speech/language screening; and review by the administrative team. When screening results suggest that the student may be eligible, the District obtains parental consent to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation. Parents or guardians, who believe their child is eligible, may verbally request a multidisciplinary evaluation from a professional employee of the District or contact the Director of Student Services. By Pennsylvania law, the evaluation must be completed within 60 days.
In 2010, the state of Pennsylvania provided $1,026,815,000 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.
Chartiers Valley School District received a $1,451,261 supplemental funding to pay for special education services for its students, in 2010.
For the 2011-12 school year, all Pennsylvania public school districts received the same level of funding for special education that they received in 2010. This level funding is provided regardless of changes in the number of pupils who need special education services and regardless of the level of services the respective students required.

Gifted education

The District Administration reported that 46 or 1.32% of its students were gifted in 2009. By law, the district must provide mentally gifted programs at all grade levels. Services designed to meet the needs of gifted students include the annual development of a Gifted Individual Education Plan, support services and specially-designed instruction designed to challenge the student. Students in the gifted education program are encouraged to compete in area intellectual competitions. The referral process for a gifted evaluation can be initiated by teachers or parents by contacting the student’s building principal, requesting an evaluation. All requests should be made in writing which commences a 60-day evaluation deadline. To be eligible for mentally gifted programs in Pennsylvania, a student must have a cognitive ability of at least 130 as measured on a standardized ability test by a certified school psychologist. Other factors that indicate giftedness will also be considered for eligibility.

Budget

In 2009, the district employed 281 teachers with an average salary of $56,210. The starting salary was $40,000, while the highest salary was $130,606. Additionally, the teachers receive a defined benefit pension, health insurance, professional development reimbursement, paid personal days, 10 paid sick days, and other benefits. 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.
In 2007, the district employed 242 teachers. The average teacher salary in the district was $50,090 for 181 days worked. 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.
The district reported that its per pupil spending was $13,877. This ranked 112th among 501 Pennsylvania public school districts.
The district administrative costs per pupil in 2008 were $877 per pupil. This ranked 116th among Pennsylvania's 501 school districts. The lowest administrative cost per pupil in Pennsylvania was $398 per pupil. In April 2010, the board hired former school district superintendent, Bernard Sulkowski, to act as Interim Superintendent while the search for a new school leader is done. He will be paid $500 per day for minimum 3 days a week. He will continue to receive his state paid pension. Superintendent Anthony Skender, 61, will be retiring April 30, 2010 with a pension of over $100,000 per year. Assistant Superintendent Tammy Whitfield is leaving the district to accept a position in another school district. She had been reinstated to her CV position after a successful federal lawsuit over her employment contract not being renewed. The Pennsylvania School Boards Association keeps statistics on salaries of public school district employees in Pennsylvania. According to the association, the average salary for a superintendent for the 2007-08 school year was $122,165. Superintendents and administrators receive a benefit package commensurate with that offered to the district's teachers' union.
In September 2010, the Pennsylvania Auditor General conducted a performance audit on the district. The findings were reported to the school board and administration.
In 2008, the district reported an unreserved designated fund balance of zero and an unreserved-undesignated fund balance of $944,627.00.
The district is funded by a combination of: a local earned income tax, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax 0.5%, 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 of the income level.

State basic education funding

In 2011-12, the district will receive $4,448,544 in state Basic Education Funding. Additionally, the district will receive $102,842 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 over the enacted State appropriation for 2010-2011. The highest increase in state basic education funding was awarded to Duquesne City School District which received a 49% increase in state basic education funding.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 799 students in the Chartiers Valley School District received free or reduced-price lunches due to low family income in the 2009-2010 school year.
For the 2010-11 budget year, the Chartiers Valley School District received a 3.47% increase in state basic education funding for a total of $4,308,627.64. In Allegheny County, the highest increase went to South Fayette Township School District which received an 11.32% increase in state funding. One hundred fifty school districts in Pennsylvania received a 2% base increase for budget year 2010-11. The highest increase in the state was given to Kennett Consolidated School District of Chester County which was given a 23.65% increase in state funding. The amount of increase each school district receives was determined by the Governor and the Secretary of Education through the allocation set in the budget proposal made in February each year.
In the 2009-2010 budget year the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided an 8.19% increase in Basic Education Funding for a total of $4,702,053. Four county school districts received increases of over 6% in Basic Education Funding in 2008-10. The majority of Allegheny County districts received a 2% increase. In Pennsylvania, over 15 school districts received Basic Education Funding increases in excess of 10% in 2009. Muhlenberg School District in Berks County received the highest with a 22.31% increase in funding. The state's Basic Education Funding to the Chartiers Valley School District in 2008-09 was $4,345,936.65
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 740 students in the Chartiers Valley School District received free or reduced-price lunches due to low family income in the 2008-2009 school year.

Accountability Block Grant

The state provides supplemental funding in the form of accountability block grants. The use of these funds is strictly focused on specific, state approved, student academic achievement focused programs and processes. Chartiers Valley School District uses its $279,139 to fund all-day kindergarten and to make research based instructional improvements. These annual grant funds are in addition to the state's basic education funding. School districts must apply each year for the Accountability Block Grant. The 2009-10 school year, the state provided $271.4 million in Accountability Block grants with $199.5 million going to provide all-day kindergarten.

Classrooms for the Future Grant

Chartiers Valley School Board received a grant from the PA Department of Education to purchase equipment to help reform the high school's core subjects instruction and to prepare students for future employment by using cutting-edge equipment and software. The district used the funds to purchase laptops for students, laptops for teachers, laptop carts and other digital equipment. The grant provided additional funding for a technology coach to instruct teachers in using the equipment to improve instruction. In 2006-07 and 2007-08 the district applied for, but was denied Classroom for the Future funding by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2008-09, the district received $172,705. Beginning in 2006, Pennsylvania's Classrooms for the Future program distributed more than $150 million for laptops, interactive boards and other high-tech tools to 543 Pennsylvania high schools. In 2009, the Classrooms For the Future funding program was terminated due to a deep state revenue shortfall.

Federal Stimulus grant

The district received $1,635,733 in ARRA money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low-income students. The funding was for the 2009–10 and 2010-11 school years.

Race to the Top grant

School district officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant which would have brought the district hundreds of thousands of additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement. 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. 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.

Other grants

In 2010, the high school received a grant of $9,801, from Highmark Healthy High 5 School Challenge, which was used to purchase the SPARK Physical Education curriculum and training for grades 9-12. The Primary School also received this grant for $8,849.00. The school used the funds to purchase: traverse climbing wall, shuttle bars, push up trainers, pedometers, stability & medicine balls, Geo Motion curriculum and mats, Hot Spots curriculum and exercise mats enhancing PE program for students in grades k-2.

Real estate taxes

The Chartiers Valley School Board set property tax rates in 2009-10 at 19.3200 mills. 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. The most recent assessed values for all properties in Allegheny County are available at the Allegheny County Office of Property Assessments.
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 2010-2011 school year is 2.9 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 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.
The School District Adjusted Index for the Chartiers Valley School District 2006-2007 through 2011-2012.
For the 2011-12 school year the Chartiers Valley School Board did not apply for exceptions to exceed the Act 1 Index. Each year, the Chartiers 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.
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.
For 2009 and 2010, the Chartiers Valley School Board did not apply for any exceptions to exceed the Index limit.

Property tax relief

In 2010, the state set the district's property tax relief at $103 for 8,796 approved homesteads and farmsteads. In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the school district was $106 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 8,609 property owners applied for the tax relief. 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 and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. In Allegheny County, 60% 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 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 and 12th in the country in terms of property taxes as a percentage of income.

Wellness policy

Chartiers Valley School Board established a district wellness policy in 2006 - Policy 246. 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. The law dictates that each school district participating in a program authorized by the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 "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 , 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.
The Pennsylvania Department of Education required the district to submit a copy of the policy for approval.

Extracurriculars

The district offers a variety of clubs, activities and sports. The school board determines eligibility policies to participate in these programs.
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.