Some Sugar Valley families have an issue with the Penns Valley Area School District

Dena Confer last week decided to withdraw her daughter from Sugar Valley Rural Charter School, and, instead, home-school her.

But the reason to pull her daughter from Sugar Valley doesn’t have much to do with the school.

Rather, the mother from Woodward said it has to do with the transportation system that gets her children to and from the school provided by the Penns Valley Area School District.

“Due to the recent problems with the new bus company, and their driver ... I’m very concerned about some of the things that have been happening,” she said.

Parents of students who attend Sugar Valley complained about the public school’s transportation system that doesn’t always align with the charter school’s schedule.

District spokesman Nate Althouse said administrators have fielded those concerns but aren’t budging with their transportation policy.

“Our policy regarding charter school transportation, including Sugar Valley charter school, is that we follow the Penns Valley dismissal times for transportation,” Althouse said. “Sugar Valley follows the Keystone Central (School District) schedule for dismissals, but follows Penns Valley’s schedule for transportation. If Keystone Central dismisses early, but Penns Valley does not, we still follow our set transportation schedule. If such a discrepancy occurs between our dismissal times and Keystone Central’s dismissal times, then students at Sugar Valley wait for our transportation.”

This, Althouse said, is not a new policy, and is communicated each year to the parents of charter school students.

“Parents are concerned, and we understand that,” he said. “When parents call we try to listen, understand the issue from their perspective and problem solve where we can. Sometimes they’re looking for a ‘yes’ and the answer is ‘no.’ ”

Parents also alleged erratic driving by the bus driver, but a district spokesman said it’s something district administrators are looking into.

The issue

Sugar Valley’s CEO Tracie Kennedy said the bus situation to and from her school is something that has only happened with Penns Valley Area.

“There are some issues — it’s something that’s been going on for years,” Kennedy said.

Several parents who live in the district but send their children to the Clinton County charter school said the bus system doesn’t accommodate schedule changes like early dismissal or late arrival.

Unless they arrange for other means of transportation, children, at times, could arrive at the school up to two hours before school starts, and/or have to stay at the school about two hours after school ends.

When that happens, the school is staffed with teachers, advisers and/or administrators who accompany the children, Kennedy said.

“We abide by that rule and make sure the children are never alone,” she said. “Parents aren’t happy about it, but we do what we can to accommodate that the best we can.”

It happens a few times a year, specifically when the charter school alters its schedule due to inclement weather.

“When this occurs, we make sure to contact parents advising them there will be early dismissal or late arrival,” Kennedy said. “In general, we go with the schedule Keystone Central has because most of our students are from that district, but if we find there is harsh weather here, we will make that decision to close school early, or open late if that’s how we feel. There are some times we’ve closed ourselves.”

Sugar Valley Rural Charter School in Loganton, Clinton County, serves 32 students who live within the Penns Valley Area School District.

It’s not just Sugar Valley

Administrators at Sugar Valley have been in talks with Penns Valley Area administrators.

“It’s something we’ve tried to handle with them but not sure they’re willing,” Kennedy said. “There’s only so much we can do.”

But it’s not only an issue at Sugar Valley.

Levent Kaya, CEO of Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School in State College, said it’s also been an issue at his school, but generally one that is under control.

“Penns Valley informs us, as they do so Sugar Valley, that they will follow their own schedule on those special attendance days like early dismissal or late start,” Kaya said. “We do inform our Penns Valley riders’ parents that this is the case and that they should be prepared to pick up early or drop off late on those days.”

But Althouse stresses that the transportation policy isn’t a new arrangement.

“These schools are aware this is a condition of how our transportation services operate,” Althouse said. “The district is obligated and committed to providing consistent and similar transportation services for all charter and private schools it serves.”

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Some Sugar Valley families have an issue with the Penns Valley Area School District."