Font ResizeA cyber charter school supported by all York County school districts would improve educational opportunities for the region's children, according to a report released Tuesday.
The school was one of six "high priority" recommendations from an independent group that studied cooperation, efficiency and funding of York County's 16 public school districts.
The five other recommendations:
--- expand preschool
--- create a best-practices clearinghouse
--- address new school building construction issues
--- expand efforts to attract and retain quality teachers
--- improve district calendar alignment.
The proposal of a regional cyber charter school attracted the most attention from superintendents at a meeting Tuesday morning, said Dallastown Area School District Supt. Stewart Weinberg.
"I think we agreed . . . that we would like the legislators to look for some state funding to really initiate the cyber charter school," Weinberg said.
The school could help a variety of students, the report states. Advanced classes could be offered online when there isn't enough student interest to justify hiring full-time teachers at individual schools. Summer-school classes, and instruction for students who struggle in a classroom setting, could also be provided online.
The school would be a benefit educationally because it would save money -- districts could pool resources to pay teacher salaries -- and it would be based on
"I think the overlying factor shows funding is needed to carry out the expectations of the state," Hensley said.
Comparisons of district funding and taxation at the county's schools were also included in the report.
The study notes the four York County school districts with students who score above the statewide average in reading and math are the same four that have the highest starting pay for teachers and the highest average pay for administrators. These schools are: Central York, Dallastown Area, Southern York and York Suburban.
The report was authored by Colorado-based, Augenblick, Palaich and Associates Inc., the same group that conducted the analysis for the General Assembly's costing-out study. It was based on written and phone interviews with local leaders.
Jeanette Torres, president of the York City School Board, said she liked the suggestions in the report, but had hoped for more concrete answers as to how they could be implemented.
"I was looking for real solutions," she said.
A second portion of the study compared local schools' efficiency compared to other schools of similar size, student need, location and student performance. This was added as another layer, and did not factor in to the suggestions for improved cooperation among districts, said John Augenblick, of Augenblick, Palaich and Associates Inc.
The efficiency rating, as determined by the study's authors, examined staffing, spending per student, special education spending, salaries and benefits of teachers, and maintenance and operation expenditures at each district. Based on the study, Central York, Dover Area, Northeastern and South Eastern scored the highest in efficiency. Hanover Public, Southern York County and York Suburban scored the lowest.
Increased efficiency did not correlate with higher test scores, according to the study. Only one efficient district, Central York, scored above the statewide average on standardized tests. The majority of those that scored high on the efficiency scale performed below the state average on standardized tests.
School district administrators and officials reviewed the study during two meetings Tuesday. At the evening meeting, mostly attended by school board members, many said they hope to find a way to improve.
"I, for one, challenge school board members to make a change," said Rob McIlvaine, of he Dover Area School Board. "If we don't, we are not doing our job as elected officials."
AT A GLANCE
The study titled "Examining Resource Use and Areas for Enhanced Cooperation in York County's School Districts" was released Tuesday to school administrators and the public.It analyzed how districts could cooperate better, and compared local district spending to similarly situated districts in the state.
Read the entire report at www.yorkcounts.org.
