Union School District (Pennsylvania)

In 2010, the Pennsylvania Department of Education issued a new, four-year cohort graduation rate. Union School District's rate was 77% for 2010.[14]

Former AYP graduation rate:

• 2010 – 83%, Gradation rate for males: 79%, females: 86%.[15]
• 2009 – 72%[16]
• 2008 – 82%
• 2007 – 98%[17]

PSSA results
11th-grade reading

• 2010 – 69% on grade level. State – 67% of 11th graders were on grade level.[18]
• 2009 – 59%, State – 65%
• 2008 – 60%, State – 65%

11th Grade Math

• 2010 – 63% on grade level. State – 59% of 11th graders were on grade level.[19]
• 2009 – 49%, State – 55%.[20]
• 2008 – 37%, State – 56%

11th Grade Science

• 2010 – 42% on grade level. State – 39% of 11th graders were on grade level.
• 2009 – 24%, State – 40%
• 2008 – 31%, State – 39%[21]

College remediation: According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 41% of Union 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.[22] 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.[23] 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 Union School Board requires that students earn 25 credits to graduate, including: 4 English credits, 4 Social Studies credits, 4 Math credits, 4 Science credits, 2 Arts & Humanities credits, .50 Health credit, 1.5 Physical Education credits, .25 Speech/Research credit, .25 Family and Consumer Science credit, .25 Careers credit, .25 Driver Education credit, and 4 Elective credits, as well as, attaining proficiency on the 11th grade PSSA Reading, Math, Science and Writing assessments.[24]

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.[25]

By Pennsylvania State School Board regulations, for the graduating classes of 2016, students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in Algebra I, Biology, English Composition, and Literature for which the Keystone Exams serve as the final course exams. Students’ Keystone Exam scores shall count for at least one-third of the final course grade.[26]

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. The courses count towards high school graduation requirements and towards earning a college degree. The students continue to have full access to activities 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.[27] Under the Pennsylvania Transfer and Articulation Agreement, many Pennsylvania colleges and universities accept these credits for students who transfer to their institutions.[28] The Pennsylvania College Credit Transfer System reported in 2009, that students saved nearly $35.4 million by having their transferred credits count towards a degree under the new system.[29]

For the 2009–10 funding year, the school district received a state grant of $5,370 for the program.[30]

By law other students, that reside in the district, who attend a private nonpublic school, charter school or are homeschooled are eligible to participate in this program.[31]

8th Grade Reading

• 2010 – 82% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 81% of 8th graders on grade level.(57 pupils enrolled)
• 2009 – 78%, State – 80%[32]
• 2008 – 72%, State – 78%

8th Grade Math

• 2010 – 77% on grade level. In Pennsylvania, 75% of 8th graders are on grade level.
• 2009 – 64%, State – 71%
• 2008 – 51%, State – 70%

8th Grade Science

• 2010 – 53% on grade level. State – 57% on grade level.
• 2009 – 62%, State – 55%
• 2008 – 45%, State – 52%[33]

7th Grade Reading

• 2010 – 89% on grade level. State – 77% on grade level. (39 pupils enrolled)
• 2009 – 54%, State – 71%
• 2008 – 56%, State – 70%

7th Grade Math

• 2010 – 89% on grade level. State – 73% of 7th graders on grade level.
• 2009 – 72%, State – 75%
• 2008 – 62%, State – 70%
• Sligo Elementary School Academic Achievement Report Card 2010 , Report Card 2009
• Rimersburg Elementary School Academic Achievement Report Card 2010 , Report Card 2009

The District Administration reported that 11 or 1.8% of its students were gifted in 2009.[38] 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.[39]

For the 2010–11 school year the state gave the Union School District a 2% increase in basic education funding. Among Clarion County school districts, Clarion-Limestone Area School District received the largest increase at 3.92%. In Pennsylvania, one hundred fifty school districts received the base 2% increase while Kennett Consolidated School District in Chester County received a 23.65% increase in state funding. Fifteen school district received an increase of funding of over 10% in 2010. One hundred fifty school districts received the base 2% increase.[52] 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.[53]

In the 2009–2010 budget year the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania provided a 2.12% increase in Basic Education funding for a total of $5,521,321. This was among the lowest increases, in Basic Education Funding, that school districts in Clarion County received. The state Basic Education funding to the district in 2008–09 was $5,406,523.65. 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.[54]

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 362 district students received free or reduced-price lunches due to low family income in the 2007–2008 school year.[55]

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 Union School District applied for and received $208,272 in addition to all other state and federal funding. The district used the funding to provide full-day kindergarten for the third year, to reduce class size K-3rd grade for the 7th year and to provide social services.[56][57]

Union School District did not apply for a state Classrooms for the Future grant to purchase computers for the high school students' use along with paying for mandatory teacher training to optimize the computers' use.[58] Computers were for core academic courses: English, Math, Science, and History.[59][60][61]

Classrooms For the Future was launched in 2006 as a three-year, $200 million project. It called for a laptop computer for every high school student and the teacher.[62] Fifty Pennsylvania school districts never applied for grants. An audit by the Pennsylvania Auditor General found over three years, PDE eventually provided, at least partial funding, to all but four school districts who applied for Classrooms for the Future grants.[63]

The district received $869,280 in ARRA – Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low-income students.[64] This is for the 2009–10 and 2010–2011 school years.

School district officials did not apply for the Race to the Top federal grant which would have brought the district hundreds of thousands of additional federal dollars for improving student academic achievement.[65] 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.[66] 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.[67]

The school board elected 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.[68] After the review of the information, the district was not required to implement the recommended cost savings changes.

Property tax rates in 2010–2011 were set at 48.8000 mills.[69] 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.

• 2009–10 – 48.8000 mills.[70]
• 2008–09 – 62.3000 mills.[71]

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 2010–2011 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.[72]

The School District Adjusted Index for the Union School District 2006–2007 through 2011–2012.[73]

• 2006–07 – 5.9%, Base 3.9%
• 2007–08 – 5.1%, Base 3.4%
• 2008–09 – 6.7%, Base 4.4%
• 2009–10 – 6.2%, Base 4.1%
• 2010–11 – 4.4%, Base 2.9%
• 2011–12 – 2.9%, Base 1.4%

The Union School Board did not apply for any exceptions in 2010–11.[74] 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.[75]

In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the East Pennsboro Area School District was $134 per approved permanent primary residence. In the district, 1,067 property owners applied for the tax relief. In Clarion County the highest amount of tax relief in 2009, went to Clarion-Limestone Area School District at $140. The highest property tax relief, among Pennsylvania school districts, went to the residents of Chester Upland School District of Delaware County who received $632 per approved homestead.[76] 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 Clarion County, 47.86% of eligible property owners applied for property tax relief in 2009.[77]

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, so people who make 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%).[78]