Somerset Area School District

In 2010, the senior high school is in Making Progress: in School Improvement I AYP status due to chronic low student achievement.[7] In 2009, the senior high school was in School Improvement AYP status for chronic low student achievement.

PSSA results
11th Grade Reading
2010 – 73% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 67% of 11th graders on grade level. (191 pupils enrolled)[8]
2009 - 63%, State - 65% (183 pupils enrolled)
2008 - 59%, State - 65% (198 pupils enrolled)[9]

11th Grade Math:
2010 - 70% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 59% of 11th graders on grade level.
2009 - 51%, State - 56%[10]
2008 - 44%, State - 56%

11th Grade Science:
2010 - 40% on grade level. State - 39% of 11th graders were on grade level.[11]
2009 - %, State - 40%[12]
2008 - 27%, State - 39%[13]

The Challenge Program, Inc. offers $250 cash incentives to Somerset Area SD sophomores, juniors, and seniors who excel in the categories of: Academic Improvement, Attendance, Community Service and Academic Excellence. The program partners with businesses to motivate students both in and out of the classroom by encouraging good habits in students that will last throughout their education and into their future careers. For the 2010–2011 school year, the top 10% of students in each of the categories were eligible to win $250.00.[14]

The school has implemented a program to recognize and reward academic achievement. Each year, the names of students who earn highest, high, and honor roll for each grading period will be displayed on large placards. Upon completion of 9th grade, the names of students who earn highest honor roll for all six semesters will have their names permanently placed on a separate card near the Wall of Honor.

According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, "8% of the Somerset Area 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.[15] 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.[16] 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.

The 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. By Pennsylvania Dual Enrollment regulations courses must be counted towards high school graduation requirements[17] and towards earning a college degree. 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 offers a small grant to assist students in costs for tuition, fees and books.[18] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.[19]

For the 2009–10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $6,268 for the program.[20]

The Somerset Area School Board requires students to earn 24 credits to graduate, including: English 4 credits, Mathematics 3 credits, Science 3 credits, Social Studies - Civics, World Cultures, Government and Economics; Arts and Humanities 1 credit, Physical Education each year, Health, Internet Applications 0.5 credit, Highway Safety and Electives to complete 24 credits.[21]

By law, all Pennsylvania secondary school students must complete a project as a part of their eligibility to graduate from high school. The type of project, its rigor and its expectations are set by the individual school district.[22]

Beginning with the class of 2015, students must take the Keystone Exams in reading and math.[23]

Eighth grade Reading
2010 – 78% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 81% of 8th graders on grade level. (199 pupils enrolled)
2009 – 77%, State - 80% (179 pupils)
2008 – 78%, State - 78% (173 pupils)

Math:
2010 – 81% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 75% of 8th graders are on grade level.
2009 – 82%, State - 71%[24]
2008 – 72%, State - 70%

Science:
2010 - 54% on grade level. State - 57% of 8th graders were on grade level.
2009 - 47%, State - 55%.
2008 - 54%, State - 52%

Seventh grade Reading:
2010 - 67% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 73% of 7th graders are on grade level. (197 pupils enrolled)
2009 - 66%, State - 71% (199 pupils enrolled)
2008 - 67%, State - 70% (174 pupils enrolled)

Math:
2010 - 74% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 77% of 7th graders are on grade level.
2009 - 71%, State - 75%
2008 - 62%, State - 70%

In 2008, the district reported spending $12,564 per pupil, which ranked 215th among Pennsylvania's 500 school districts.[42]

In 2008, the district reported $3,443,176 in an unreserved-undesignated fund balance. The designated fund balance was reported as zero.[43]

In September 2010, the Pennsylvania auditor general conducted a performance audit of the district. The findings were reported to the school board and the administration. It was concluded that the district took appropriate corrective action to address the deficit fund balance of 2006.[44]

The district is funded by a combination of a local income tax, a property tax, a real estate transfer tax, coupled with substantial funding from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government. In Pennsylvania, pension income and Social Security income are exempted from state personal income tax and local earned income tax, regardless of the person's wealth.[45]

For the 2010–11 budget year, the Somerset Area School District was allotted a 2.82% increase in Basic Education Funding for a total of $7,968,522. The highest increase in Somerset County was provided to North Star School District and Somerset Area School District a 2.82% 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.[46] The amount of increase each school district receives is set by the governor and the secretary of education as a part of the state budget proposal given each February.[47]

In the 2009–2010 budget year, Pennsylvania provided the district with a 4.87% increase in Basic Education Funding for a total of $7,749,257.[48] Somerset Area School District received the county's highest increase. The state Basic Education Funding to the district in 2008–09 was $3,230,215. Ninety Pennsylvania school districts received a 2% increase. Muhlenberg School District in Berks County received a 22.31% increase in state basic education funding in 2009.[49]

Beginning in 2004-2005, the state launched the Accountability Block Grant school funding program, which has provided $1.5 billion to Pennsylvania’s school districts. The 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–third 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 $383,885 in addition to all other state and federal funding. The Somerset Area School District uses the grant to fund full-day kindergarten to 118 children. This is the fifth year the full-day kindergarten was provided.[50][51]

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 to 2009. In 2006, the district received $95,832, in 2007–08 $250,000 and in 2008-09 - $45,413 for a total funding of $391,245.[52]

The district received an extra $1,190,407 in ARRA (federal government stimulus) money to be used in specific programs such as special education and meeting the academic needs of low-income students.[53] The funding was for the 2009–10 and 2010–2011 school years.[54]

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 875 students qualified for free or reduced-price lunches due to low family income in 2008.[55]

School district officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant which would have meant hundreds of thousands of additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement.[56] The administration, school board and teachers' union prioritized free resources to improve student success over local control. 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.[57][58][59]

The Somerset Area School Board declined to not participate in the Pennsylvania Department of Education Common Cents program. The program called for the state to audit the district, at no cost to local taxpayers, to identify ways the district could save tax dollars.[60] After the review of the information, the district was not required to implement the recommended cost savings changes.

Property tax rates in 2010 were set at 37.9600 mills[61] (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 the region.

• 2011 – 39.5000 mills.[62]
• 2010 – 37.9600 mills.[63]
• 2009 – 36.6500 mills.[64]
• 2008 – 34.9500 mills[65]

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 was 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.[66]

The School District Adjusted Index for the Somerset Area School District 2006–2007 through 2011–2012[67] was

• 2006-07 – 5.0%, Base 3.9%
• 2007-08 - 4.3%, Base 3.4%
• 2008-09 - 5.6%, Base 4.4%
• 2009-10 - 5.2%, Base 4.1%
• 2010-11 - 3.6%, Base 2.9%
• 2011-12 - 1.7%, Base 1.4%

The Somerset Area School Board did not apply for exceptions to exceed the Act 1 Index for the budget year 2010-2011.[68] In spring 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.[69]

In 2010, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Somerset Area School District was $149 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 4,468 property owners applied for the tax relief.[70] 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 and must be the primary residence of the owner. Farmers can qualify for both the homestead exemption and the farmstead exemption. In Somerset County, 47% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.[71] In Somerset County, the highest amount of tax relief in 2010 went to Shanksville-Stonycreek School District at $211. The highest property tax relief in Pennsylvania went to the residents of Chester Upland School District of Delaware County who received $632 per approved homestead.[72] This was the third year they were the top recipient.

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, individual with income much 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.[73]

Property taxes in Pennsylvania are relatively high on a national scale: According to the Tax Foundation, Pennsylvania ranked 11th in the United States 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%).[74]

A comprehensive music program offers chorus, orchestra, and band beginning in the elementary grades. Annual junior high school and senior high school musicals are integral part of the entire program. A wide range of academic co-curricular opportunities is also available at all grade levels.