DOVER, Pa. —
The Dover Area School Board voted unanimously to move forward with an appeal of a recent court ruling that would transfer about 250 students out of the district.
A Commonwealth Court judge ruled June 4 that Washington Township could secede from the Dover Area School District to move to the Northern York School District. The ruling would allow the transfer to happen as soon as the 2021-22 school year.
The Commonwealth Court ruling overturns a previous refusal of the transfer by the Pennsylvania Board of Education.
Efforts behind the change have been ongoing for nine years. In 2012 two thirds of Washington Township taxpayers signed a petition in support of it.
However a group of families opposed to the decision attended Tuesday’s school board meeting to voice their concerns.
The ruling notes the transfer would cost Dover Area School District about $2.3 million in tax revenue, roughly 3 percent of its $75 million budget.
“The goal here is just to get the court ruling to change, I guess,” said Kaylee Renfrew, a recent graduate of Dover Area High School. “I mean, we don’t want our Dover students being moved to Northern.”
School board officials said they had received hundreds of emails asking to stay in the district.
“The kids that are passionate in saying, `I don't want to go. I don't want to go. Why do I have to go?`” said Steve Cook, the school board treasurer.
Board members argued recent test scores show Dover Area School District offers an education at least equal to that of Northern York School District.
At Dover Area High School, 79.2 percent of students were proficient or advanced in English Language Arts/Literature, and 72.9 percent of students were proficient or advanced in Mathematics/Algebra, according to the Future Ready PA Index.
At Northern High School, 77.7 percent of students were proficient or advanced in English Language Arts/Literature, and 70.3 percent of students were proficient or advanced in Mathematics/Algebra.
“If this argument really is about providing a better education for our students, then I respectfully ask the Washington Township Education Coalition to rethink their stance and withdraw their case,” said Dover Area Board president Nathan Eifert.
Dover Area School District will move forward with a petition for application of appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court generally takes six to eight months to decide if it will hear a case. If the court does take the case, it could push back the start year for the transfer as it considers the case.