Mount Jewett Charter School Coalition

The Mount Jewett Charter School Coalition exists in Mount Jewett, Pennsylvania, United States. They formed after the Kane Area School District voted to close the Mount Jewett Elementary School at the end of the 2006-2007 school year. Their immediate goal is to organize a charter school to provide education for the children of Mount Jewett and any of its surrounding areas for grades k-5. Due to the closure of the town's school their elementary students must travel via bus about 15 miles west to the borough of Kane, Pennsylvania in order to attend the Chestnut Street Elementary School.

Their vision statement, taken from their website reads:

"The Mt. Jewett Area Charter School for Academic Excellence exists to inspire each student to academic greatness using both traditional and innovative means and resources, community involvement and individualized attention to create a unique and focused educational opportunity that will equip students with analytical thinking skills, a passion for learning, leadership skills and a solid foundation of knowledge."

The idea of opening a school has drawn criticism from the Kane Area School District's board and others. "If 100 children from the district would attend the proposed school, Business Manager Steve Perry projects a net loss of between $530,000 and $600,000 in the district's annual operating budget. Students do not pay tuition to attend a charter school. Instead, the school district would be obligated to pay $8,100 for every district child attending the proposed school in Mt. Jewett. The state would reimburse the district 30 percent or $2,400 per student, leaving a net loss of $5,700, according to figures compiled by Perry." Most people of Mount Jewett largely support the idea, though some do not. For example, Mount Jewett is located in the heart of Hamlin Township in McKean County—a territory surrounding the borough and belonging to neighboring Smethport Area School District. However, due to tax structures, Kane claims the town for their school system. Because of this fact, one school board member on the Kane Area School Board must be from Mount Jewett. That same member voted against opening the school.

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