School Lane Rechartering Not Going Smoothly: Report

BENSALEM, PA — Education officials considering an effort by a charter school in Bensalem to renew its charter are expressing serious concerns about the school.

The Bucks County Intelligencer reports that exchanges have grown testy between representatives of School Lane Charter School and the local school district.

Representatives of School Lane have threatened to appeal to the state and even take their fight to court if the Bensalem School District does not renew the school's charter, which was first granted in 1998, then renewed in 2003, 2008 and 2013.

Bensalem School District administrators pointed out several concerns at a recent hearing. Among them, the Intelligencer reported, are the following:

• no evidence that School Lane is in full compliance with Pennsylvania Core Standards
• one special education teacher didn’t have the appropriate certification for most of the 2016-17 school year
• statement of financial interest forms filled out incorrectly in 2015 and 2016
• the curriculum needs to be updated to be in full compliance with state standards

There is no set date for the Bensalem board to vote on the charter renewal, which is typically done every five years.

School Lane enrollss 1,300 students in grades K-12, with K-6 housed in a building on Bristol Pike and grades 7-12 in two buildings on Tillman Drive, just off Street Road. The school is open to students from all area school districts, but students from Bensalem get first preference.

This year, 903 students of School Lane live in Bensalem, costing the school district $12.8 million, the Intelligencer reported.

To read the full Intelligencer report, click here.

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