The Bethlehem Area School Board voted Aug. 17 against paying the full amount requested by charter schools for tuition reimbursement. State law requires school districts to pay charter schools for each student they have enrolled who would have been in a district school.

“We do not have 30 percent from the state to pay those bills,” said President Michael Faccinetto.

Faccinetto said because the state has not passed a budget yet, the district has not received its subsidy for the upcoming school year. For that reason, they can only pay 70 percent of what is owed to the charter schools. When the district receives the money, then the charter schools will receive the remaining 30 percent, he said.

Before voting on the motion, board member Michele Cann asked if it is legal for the school district to withhold full payment. She was reassured by Chief Financial Officer Stacy Gober that the district must provide full payment once it has received the state subsidy, but at this point they haven’t received the subsidy.

“We should have had a state budget on July 1,” Superintendent Dr. Joseph Roy said. “The charter tuition bills are some big bills.”

In all, BASD provides funding to about 15 charter schools – both cyber and bricks-and-mortar locations. Three charter schools have sites within the Bethlehem school district. About eight charter school buildings lie within the Lehigh Valley and educate students from the Bethlehem school district, Roy said.

Each school is required by state law to provide an invoice to the Pennsylvania Department of Education by Aug. 31. The recent BASD board meeting addressed the invoices from seven charter schools. According to the school district, full payment to these seven schools totaled nearly $1.2 million. Of that amount, BASD has agreed to pay $710, 766.78. The breakdown goes like this:

• Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School – $614,164.02

• Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts – $48,166.36

• Achievement House Charter School – $23,391.10

• PA Virtual Charter School – $11,695.56

• Seven Generations Charter School – $9, 310.25

• PA Leadership Charter School – $2,885.37

• PA Distance Learning Charter School - $1,154.14

The cost per student is calculated through a state formula. “Every school district has a different rate,” Roy said.

The rate is based on the district’s expenditures, but the calculations also factor in if the student has an individualized education plan. IEPs are created for students who have mild learning disabilities to those with severe challenges. The average rate for students without IEPs is about $10,000. The cost for a student with an IEP can range from $16,000 to $30,000 depending on the severity of the disability, he said.

In response to the vote, Lisa Pluchinsky, principal of the Dual Language Charter School, said, “I can understand their point. That’s why we work really hard to make sure we have a reserve when these things come up.”

The Dual Language Charter School received approval from the board at that meeting to move to its new location at the Performing Arts school’s old building, 675 E. Broad St.

“We are very excited, because this facility is large enough for our whole school,” Pluchinsky said.

She explained that the school has out grown its Thomas Street location, which is the site of the former Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic School. Their charter permits the school to offer classes for grades kindergarten through eight with a maximum number set at 450 students. They currently have about 400 students, she said.

“When you begin a charter school, you don’t have the capacity for the maximum number. You have to add one grade a year,” Pluchinsky said. They are adding a sixth grade this year.

Now that they needed the space, the school couldn’t find a location.

Pluchinsky said they considered placing some grades in one location and other grades in a separate location. The school district contends that this isn’t allowable because the laws governing charter schools only state the schools Philadelphia can have separate locations for certain grades, Superintendent Roy said.

The matter is in appeal before the state Supreme Court and is expected to be heard in December, Roy said. Even though the Dual Language Charter School now has an approved location, Roy thinks the case will still be heard, because it’s a larger issue now. It’s an interpretation of the law, which could affect school districts and charter schools anywhere in the state, he said.

The newest location is the former site of the Lehigh Valley Charter HS for the Arts on Broad Street. The performing arts high school has constructed a new 87,000-square-foot building in the arts and culture district of southside Bethlehem.

“We traded sides of the river,” Pluchinsky joked.

Pluchinsky said construction and renovations will begin soon in their new building. The school will be adding a cafeteria and another set of bathrooms for younger students, and will be converting the theater into a gymnasium and practice rooms in classrooms. She hopes they will be in the new site by December.