Greater Latrobe School District

In 2011, the graduation rate at Greater Latrobe School District was 94%.[22] In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, 4-year cohort graduation rate. High School's rate was 89% for 2010.[23]

According to traditional graduation rate calculations

• 2010 - 93%[24]
• 2009 - 93%[25]
• 2008 - 93%[26]
• 2007 - 93%[27]

Greater Latrobe Senior High School is located at 131 High School Road, Latrobe. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2010, the school reported an enrollment of 1,102 pupils in grades 10th through 12th, with 210 pupils eligible for a federal free or reduced-price lunch. The school employed 61 teachers, yielding a student–teacher ratio of 18:1.[28] According to a report by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 100% of its teachers were rated "Highly Qualified" under No Child Left Behind.[29] Principals: Mr. Jon Mains, Mr. Chad Krehlik. Assistant Principal: Mr. Jeff Ingel.

Senior High School Auditorium

The Junior-Senior High School Complex is located in a commercial area of Unity Township. The complex was built in 1967 and went under a $35 Million Dollar renovation, which was completed in 2004.

PSSA Results

11th Grade Reading

• 2011 - 85% on grade level, (4% below basic). State - 69.1% of 11th graders are on grade level.[30]
• 2010 - 78% (9% below basic). State - 66%[31]
• 2009 - 79% (11% below basic). State - 65%[32]
• 2008 - 79% (10% below basic). State - 65%[33]
• 2007 - 81% (6% below basic). State - 65%[34]

11th Grade Math:

• 2011 - 74% on grade level (10% below basic). In Pennsylvania, 60.3% of 11th graders are on grade level.[35]
• 2010 - 67% (16% below basic). State - 59%
• 2009 - 67% (15% below basic). State - 56%.
• 2008 - 74% (10% below basic). State - 56%
• 2007 - 66% (12% below basic). State - 53%

11th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 62% on grade level (6% below basic). State - 40% of 11th graders were on grade level.[36]
• 2010 - 55% (10% below basic). State - 39%
• 2009 - 57% (6% below basic). State - 40%[37]
• 2008 - 52% (5% below basic). State - 39%[38]

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 23% of the Greater Latrobe Senior High School 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.[39] 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.[40] 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.

Greater Latrobe Senior 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. Juniors and seniors with a GPA higher than 2.5 for Westmoreland County Community College and 2.75 for St. Vincent College are eligible for the school's dual enrollment program. State regulation calls for the courses to count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. At Greater Latrobe School District, the dual enrollment courses do not count towards the total graduation credit requirements and course grades are not factored into GPA and class rank calculations.[41] 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 offered a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books.[42] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.[43] For the 2009-10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $49,088 for the program.[44]

From January to June 2011, 226 Greater Latrobe School District students took the SAT exams. The district's Verbal Average Score was 511. The Math average score was 527. The Writing average score was 495.[45] Pennsylvania ranked 40th among states with SAT scores: Verbal - 493, Math - 501, Writing - 479.[46] In the United States 1.65 million students took the exam in 2011. They averaged 497 (out of 800) verbal, 514 math and 489 in writing.[47]

Greater Latrobe Junior High School is located at 130 High School Road, Latrobe. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2010, the school reported an enrollment of 994 pupils in grades 7th through 9th, with 235 pupils receiving a federal free or reduced-price lunch due to family poverty. The school employed 62 teachers, yielding a student–teacher ratio of 16:1.[48] According to a report by the Pennsylvania department of Education, 100% of its teachers were rated "Highly Qualified" under No Child Left Behind.[49] Principal: Mr. Matthew Shivetts; Assistant Principal: Mrs. Lindsay DiCasolo.

In 2012, Greater Latrobe's eighth grade ranked 25th out of 105 western Pennsylvania middle schools based on the last three years of student academic achievement in Pennsylvania System of School Assessments (PSSA) in: reading, math, writing and three years of science.[50] In 2011, the eighth grade ranked 22nd. In 2010 and 2009, the 8th grade was ranked 18th out of 141 western Pennsylvania middle schools based on last three years of student academic achievement in PSSAs in: reading, math writing and science.[51]

In 2010 and 2011, Greater Latrobe Junior High School achieved AYP status.[52]

PSSA Results:

8th Grade Science:

• 2011 - 67% on grade level (12% below basic). State – 58.3% of 8th graders were on grade level.
• 2010 - 69% (14% below basic). State – 57%[57]
• 2009 - 76% (8% below basic). State - 55%[58]
• 2008 - 74% (6% below basic), State - 52%[59]
• 2007 - tested, but results not made public.

Greater Latrobe School District Administration reported that 172 or 4% of its students were gifted in 2009.[83] By law, the district must provide mentally gifted programs at all grade levels. The referral process for a gifted evaluation can be initiated by teachers or parents by contacting the student's building principal and requesting an evaluation. All requests must be made in writing. 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.[84][85]

In 2011-12, the district received a $9,867,977 allocation, of state Basic Education Funding.[103][104] Additionally, the School District received $170,188 in Accountability Block Grant funding. The enacted Pennsylvania state Education budget included $5,354,629,000 for the 2011-2012 Basic Education Funding appropriation. This amount is a $233,290,000 increase (4.6%) over the enacted State appropriation for 2010-2011.[105] The highest increase in state basic education funding was awarded to Duquesne City School District, which got a 49% increase in state funding for 2011-12.[106]

In the 2010-2011 budget year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a % increase in Basic Education Funding for a total of $10,868,251. Among the districts in County, the highest increase went to School District which got a 5.94% increase. One hundred fifty Pennsylvania school districts received the base 2% increase. The highest increase in 2010-11 went to Kennett Consolidated School District in Chester County which received a 23.65% increase in state funding.[107] The state's hold harmless policy regarding state basic education funding continued where a district received at least the same amount as the year before, even where enrollment had significantly declined. The amount of increase each school district received was set by Governor Edward Rendell and then Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak, as a part of the state budget proposal given each February. This was the second year of Governor Rendell's policy to fund some districts at a far greater rate than others.

In the 2009-2010 budget year, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a 6.15% increase in Basic Education Funding for a total of $10,258,855. Among the districts in Westmoreland County, the highest increase went to Southmoreland School District which got a 6.44%. The state Basic Education Funding to the district in 2008-09 was $4,787,151.79. Ninety school districts received a 2% increase. Muhlenberg School District in Berks County received a 22.31% increase in state basic education funding in 2009.[108] The amount of increase each school district received was set by Governor Edward G. Rendell and the Secretary of Education Gerald Zahorchak, as a part of the state budget proposal.[109]

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 905 district students received free or reduced-price lunches due to low family income in the 2007–2008 school year.[110]

Beginning in 2004-2005, the state launched the Accountability Block Grant school funding. This program has provided $1.5 billion to Pennsylvania's school districts. The Accountability Block Grant program requires that its taxpayer dollars are focused on specific interventions that are most likely to increase student academic achievement. These interventions include: teacher training, all-day kindergarten, lower class size K-3rd grade, literacy and math coaching programs that provide teachers with individualized job-embedded professional development to improve their instruction, before or after school tutoring assistance to struggling students. For 2010-11, the district applied for and received $461,933 in addition to all other state and federal funding. The district uses the funding to provide: full-day kindergarten, Tutoring before/after school, weekends, Extension of the school day/year and Intensive instruction for struggling students during the school day.[111][112]

The Classroom for the Future state program provided districts with hundreds of thousands of extra state funding to buy laptop computers for each core curriculum high school class (English, Science, History, Math) and paid for teacher training to optimize the computers use. The program was funded from 2006-2009. Greater Latrobe School District did not apply to participate in 2006-07 or in 2007-08. The district received $50,425 in 2008-09.[113] In County the highest award was given to area School District. The highest funding statewide was awarded to Philadelphia City School District in Philadelphia County - $9,409,073. In 2010, Classrooms for the Future funding was curtailed statewide due to a massive state financial crisis.

The district received an extra $3,504,167 in ARRA - Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low-income students.[114] The funding was limited to the 2009–10 and 2010-2011 school years.[115] Due to the temporary nature of the funding, schools were repeatedly advised to use the funds for one-time expenditures like acquiring equipment, making repairs to buildings, training teachers to provide more effective instruction or purchasing books and software.

Greater Latrobe School District officials applied for the federal Race to the Top grant which would have provided nearly one million dollars in additional federal funding to improve student academic achievement.[116] 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.[117] 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.[118][119][120]

Property tax rates in 2011-12 were set by the school board at 74.5000 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.[121] Property taxes, in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, apply only to real estate - land and buildings. The property tax is not levied on cars, business inventory, or other personal property. Certain types of property are exempt from property taxes, including: places of worship, places of burial, private social clubs, charitable and educational institutions and government property. Additionally, service related, disabled US military veterans may seek an exemption from paying property taxes. Pennsylvania school district revenues are dominated by two main sources: 1) Property tax collections, which account for the vast majority (between 75-85%) of local revenues; and 2) Act 511 tax collections, which are around 15% of revenues for school districts.[122] When the school district includes municipalities in two counties, each of which has different rates of property tax assessment, a state board equalizes the tax rates between the counties.[123] In 2010, miscalculations by the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) were widespread in the Commonwealth and adversely impacted funding for many school districts, including those that did not cross county borders.[124]

• 2010-11 - 73.5000 mills[125]
• 2009-10 - 69.0000 mills.[126]
• 2008-09 - 69.0000 mills.[127]
• 2007-08 - 69.0000 mills.[128]
• 2006-07 - 67.5000 mills.[129]

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 2011-2012 school year is 1.4 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 (MV/PI AR) 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.[130] In June 2011, the Pennsylvania General Assembly eliminated six of the ten exceptions to the Act 1 Index.[131] Several exceptions were maintained: 1) costs to pay interest and principal on indebtedness incurred prior to September 4, 2004 for Act 72 schools and prior to June 27, 2006 for non-Act 72 schools; 2) costs to pay interest and principal on electoral debt; 3) costs incurred in providing special education programs and services (beyond what is already paid by the State); and 4) costs due to increases of more than the Index in the school's share of payments to PSERS (PA school employees pension fund) taking into account the state mandated PSERS contribution rate.[132][133]

The School District Adjusted Index for the Greater Latrobe School District 2006-2007 through 2011-2012.[134]

• 2006-07 - 4.9%, Base 3.9%
• 2007-08 - 4.3%, Base 3.4%
• 2008-09 - 5.5%, Base 4.4%
• 2009-10 - 5.1%, Base 4.1%
• 2010-11 - 3.6%, Base 2.9%
• 2011-12 - 1.8%, Base 1.4%
• 2012-13 - 2.2%, Base 1.7%[135]

For the 2012-13 budget year, Greater Latrobe School Board did not apply for exceptions to exceed the Act 1 Index. For 2012-2013, 274 Pennsylvania school districts adopted a resolution certifying that tax rates would not be increased above their index; 223 school districts adopted a preliminary budget leaving open the option of exceeded the Index limit. For the exception for pension costs, 194 school districts received approval to exceed the Index. For special education costs, 129 districts received approval to exceed the tax limit. For the exception for pension costs, 194 school districts received approval to exceed the Index. For special education costs, 129 districts received approval to exceed the tax limit.[136]

For the 2011-12 school year, the Greater Latrobe School Board applied for four exceptions to exceed the Act 1 Index: Special Education costs, teacher pension costs, Maintenance of Selected Revenue, and Maintenance of Local Tax Revenue or AIE/ADM. Each year, the Greater Latrobe 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 published annually, by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.[137]

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.[138]

Greater Latrobe School Board applied for three exceptions to exceed the Act 1 index for the budget in 2010-11, including special education costs, teacher pension costs and Maintenance of Selected Revenue Sources.[139] For 2009-10 school year budget, the board did not apply for any exceptions to exceed the Index.[140] In the Spring of 2010, 135 Pennsylvania school boards asked to exceed their adjusted index. Approval was granted to 133 of them and 128 sought an exception for pension costs increases.[141]

In 2010, property tax relief for 8,495 approved residents of Greater Latrobe School District was set at $89.[142] In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Greater Latrobe School District was also $89 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 8,435 property owners applied for the tax relief. In Westmoreland County, the highest tax relief went to New Kensington-Arnold School District which was set at $302.[143] The highest property tax relief, among Pennsylvania school districts, went to the homesteads of Chester Upland School District of Delaware County which received $632 per approved homestead in 2010. This was the second year they received this amount.[144] 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 10 contiguous acres (40,000 m²) and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. In Beaver County, 62% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.[145]

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 (1/2) of their Social Security income, consequently people who have an income of 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 (1.34%) and 12th in the country in terms of property taxes as a percentage of income (3.55%).[146]