Dec 23, 2016 By Mark Soroka for The 5 min read

NEW EAGLE — School board members are reviewing an application from a local group that wants to bring a charter school to the Ringgold School District.

The group presented a preliminary plan to the board during a recent public hearing at the administration building. Dana Moreno, one of the founders of this group, told the board that a charter school would give more options to Ringgold’s students.

“There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all education,” said Moreno, a resident of Monongahela, who has previous experience teaching at a charter school. “We recognize that not every student in the classroom is going to be at the same instructional level, for a variety of different reasons. Charter schools put an emphasis on blended learning, which involves different learning modalities, such as face-to-face instruction and online learning, as well as the station rotation model. That helps teachers to develop an individualized learning plan and better engage their students.”

Moreno said that her group identified Ringgold School District as an ideal place to start a charter school.

“Ringgold is in a great location and has a very supportive and active community,” she said. “Furthermore, we recognized there is a demand to bring back our community schools. That’s something we heard even before we announced our intent. We feel a charter school would be aligned with the voice of the community.”

Moreno said the charter school would follow a competency-based model of education, which measures mastery of knowledge and skills. Special emphasis would be given to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines.

“We want our students to become problem solvers and critical thinkers. Teachers would be facilitators who assist students in the learning process,” said Moreno, who wants to begin by offering education for grades K-8, with the potential to expand all the way to the twelfth grade. The school would initially accept 450 students and employ 40 staff members.

Moreno added that students would have an opportunity to participate in extracurricular activities at the charter school, as well at Ringgold.

According to Moreno, the former Monongahela Elementary School is one of several sites under consideration for the charter school. To bring the building up to code, the former school would have to first undergo extensive renovations.

Funding for the charter school would be provided by local school district, said Moreno.

“The money follows the student to our school,” said Moreno, who estimated that tuition would cost about $8,700 annually for each student enrolled in a general education program. “For instance, Ringgold would pay the costs for its own students and other school districts would cover expenses for their students. In addition, school districts are required to provide transportation if the student lives within a 10-mile radius of the charter school.”

In order to apply for the proposed charter school, students would have to meet specific criteria. First priority would be given to children of the school’s founders. Ringgold students would then get an opportunity to apply for admission. If demand exceeds the number of available seats, the charter school would follow lottery procedures set forth by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Students from surrounding school districts could only apply for admission if any slots are still available.

Under state law, school districts have to vote on charter school applications no later than 75 days after a public hearing.

Ringgold Superintendent Karen Polkabla said she needs more time to go through all of the information in the application.

“There is still a lot more data that we need to gather before we can make a final decision,” said Dr. Polkabla. “I don’t believe that all of my concerns were fully answered right now.”

Polkabla said it is too early to say if a charter school could benefit Ringgold.

“I’m not totally sure that a charter school would be good for the students of Ringgold. It’s not clear they are offering things that we don’t already provide,” said Polkabla, who is also concerned about the financial impact that a charter school would have on the school district.

School board member James Dodd also said he needs more time to thoroughly review the charter school application before forming an opinion about the proposal.

“We want to do what is best for students and families in our school district,” he said. “Opening a charter school would be a huge undertaking and there are a lot of things to consider. It’s important that we give time for due diligence before making a decision.”

Roderick Wilson, a resident of Donora and parent of a Ringgold student, addressed the board near the end of its monthly meeting and expressed concerns about the proposed plan.

“I don’t think a charter school should be targeted to just one school in the Mon Valley,” he said. “This should be a regional charter school that is open to all students in the area. I also don’t think this is the right time to open a charter school. It would behoove the school district to first see how charter schools will fit into the Trump administration’s educational plan. That could have an impact on funding.”

Moreno hopes to open a charter school near the end of August 2017 but conceded that her group faces many challenges.

“I try to be the optimist,” she said. “I hope that things fall into place and students from our area have more options for their education.”