JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Pennsylvania Association of Public Cyber Charter Schools pushed back in a statement this week against a new Westmont Hilltop School District initiative to draw students back to the traditional institution from outside cyber charter schools.
“(PAPCCS) is dismayed by Westmont Hilltop School District’s reckless decision to offer $2,000 in taxpayer-funded cash incentives to families who withdraw from public cyber charter schools and return to the district,” the association wrote.
Westmont Hilltop approved the enrollment incentive at the June school board meeting, offering a one-time payment of $2,000 to each of the families of the 73 students who attend outside cyber schools at this time. The payment would be made in $500-per-quarter increments, according to the motion.
Marcus Hite, PAPCCS executive director, criticized the district’s actions, describing the incentive as a “shortsighted approach.”
“If a cyber charter school offered cash incentives or made real estate purchases like this, the backlash would be swift and severe,” Hite said in a statement.
He also described the district’s actions as “a blatant double standard” and “disregard for fiscal responsibility.”
Westmont Hilltop Superintendent Thomas Mitchell said after the meeting that school districts have to be entrepreneurial to address the impact of growing outside cyber tuition.
Westmont Hilltop pays $1.2 million annually for the 73 students enrolled in the outside institutions, Mitchell said Tuesday. Comparatively, if the district paid $2,000 to each of the families enrolled elsewhere, that would total $146,000.
“If a family takes advantage of the $2,000 grant award, the school district would save between $10,000 and $20,000 per student, depending on the educational needs of the student,” Mitchell said.
He said the board approved the incentive as a cost-saving measure, adding that if there is no change to the existing cyber charter system, Westmont Hilltop could pay $6 million throughout the next five years in outside tuition.
“Auditorium renovations, new athletic fields, building renovations, innovative educational programs and high-quality teachers all come to mind when I think of the ways our school community would benefit from the potential savings of this initiative,” Mitchell said.
He also stated that he’s optimistic the Pennsylvania legislature will provide a budget in the coming days that may include cyber charter reform, rendering initiatives such as the action passed in June unnecessary.
Hite said Westmont Hilltop and the 14 cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania are public schools “and must be held to the high standards when using the public’s money – not selectively enforced when convenient or beneficial to a particular district.”
He added that instead of attempting to regain those who left the district, Westmont Hilltop should attempt to address why the students sought education elsewhere.
The struggle between cyber charter schools and traditional public schools has continued for years.
The existing system requires a district to pay tuition, determined by individual institutions’ costs to educate students, among other criteria, to outside cyber institutions for any student enrolled there who lives in the district’s boundaries.
This year’s state budget proposes a cyber charter tuition cap of $8,000 per student, which cyber charter schools and supporters have fought.
Additionally, Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy DeFoor called for cyber charter reform after releasing an audit in February of five state cyber charter schools that noted unusual expenditures between 2020 and 2023.
The investigation included Commonwealth Charter Academy, Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, Insight PA Cyber Charter School, Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School and Reach Cyber Charter School.
DeFoor noted several issues that he said were not illegal but raised concerns.
Some examples included Commonwealth Charter Academy’s use of $196 million during the audit period to buy and/or renovate 21 buildings; Reach Cyber Charter School giving $4.3 million in gift cards to students and their families from 2020 to 2023; and PA Cyber spending $4.3 million on advertising during the time frame, according to the report.