Published Thursday, Aug. 19, 1999 The school's promoter, Joseph Dyll of Sharon, said local political considerations about the loss of education funding led Sharon and Hermitage school boards to reject his application to open the charter school as an educational alternative. Dyll and his attorney, Ronald Amrhein of Sharon, want the Charter Schools Appeal Board to overturn the school boards' action.
But Sharon school solicitor Mark Longietti defended the district's position saying Dyll's proposed charter school offers students nothing more than "Sharon School Light."
Longietti made his arguments via a speaker conference phone because his schedule prevented him from getting to Harrisburg.
The main focus of the hearing was whether Dyll's proposal meets the criteria set forth in the 1997 state law authorizing the creation of charter schools to offer new and different educational opportunities for students and operate free of many state mandates. The law gives local school districts the right to approve or reject a charter school application. But it allows the seven-member appeals board -- which met for the first time earlier this summer -- to hear appeals of decisions by school districts to deny applications or revoke existing school charters.
The two sides clashed over the issue of whether a Shenango Valley Regional Charter School would provide students with educational opportunities that they don't receive in the public schools. That is relevant because the 1997 law states that charter schools should "increase learning opportunities for all pupils," "encourage the use of different and innovate teaching methods" and "provide parents and pupils with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system."
Dyll and Amrhein said the charter school will offer something different by having personal education plans for all students, apprenticeships, a curriculum based on a model developed by the University of Pittsburgh, input from teachers and students and a staggered eleven-month school schedule.
"We want to make a real different educational model," said Dyll.
But Longietti said the district is already implementing a curriculum based on the University of Pittsburgh model. Two staffers are being assigned to Musser and West Hill elementary schools to work on that curriculum, he said.
"The intent of the charter school act is not to create schools that are a smaller version of the public school," added Longietti.
The two sides also argued about the charter school's financial plan or lack of one, plans to use the former Curtis Elementary School in Brookield and Stevenson Mansion in Sharon as classrooms and level of community support or lack of it.
Dyll and Amrhein also sought to defuse questions about Dyll's problems with the law by bringing up the issue themselves. Dyll told the board he has come under personal attack because of a drunken driving conviction and disorderly conduct charge. Dyll acknowledged the DUI conviction as a mistake, but said the disorderly conduct charge stems from an incident where unsubstantiated charges were made against him by a tenant facing eviction from one of his properties. He said the charges made by the tenant were dropped.
But Dyll added he became agitated at one point because of those initial charges and the disorderly conduct charge was filed as a result. Dyll said he has made a $1,000 donation to the Red Cross to settle the case.
(In May 1998, Dyll pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct after being charged with trying to set a woman's car on fire twice and causing a disturbance when police investigated the incident. At the time, Dyll said the plea "absolved" him of charges related to the fire, which were dismissed.)
Amrhein told the board that the legal troubles are irrelevant to the charter school case since Dyll will run the firm that manages the school, but won't serve in a teaching or administrative capacity himself.
The seven board members will now weigh the arguments presented here in coming weeks. But state Education Secretary Gene Hickok, the board chairman, reminded Dyll that under the law the charter school applicant carries the burden of proof to establish why and how its educational program is different from that offered by the public schools.
"We have to look at the record to see if the case is made," added Hickok.
Some 6,000 students were enrolled in 31 charter schools in Pennsylvania during the last academic year. Seventeen new charter school are expected to open this fall.
