Archer v. Rockwood Area Sch. Dist.

249 A.3d 617

Joseph E. ARCHER, Nancy J. Bonati, Christopher C. Bosworth, Deborah A. Bosworth, Belita J. Brown, Stephen C. Brown, Deborah A. Cunningham, Paul V. Cunningham, Candace DiMarco, Ross F. DiMarco Jr., Janeen Dupre, Karen A. Farmerie, Wilson J. Farmerie, David A. Fetchko, Mary Ellen Fetchko, Clifford J. Forrest, Tracy L. Forrest, Gary D. Gadley, Annette D. Ganassi, Hemlock Property LLC, Georgia C. Hernandez, Robert M. Hernandez, Martha E. Hildebrandt, Mark J. Hileman, Rebecca L. Hileman, James A. Nassif Qualified Personal Residence Trust, Susan A. Jurik, Kurt J. Lesker III, William J. Lloyd, David P. Mendis, Lisa B. Mendis, Joseph C. Metzgar, Lynette E. Metzgar, Erin Morris, Michael A. Morris, Netco Inc., Mary Jo Ochson, John C. Prentice, Douglas Keith Rosetti, Ronald T. Rossetti, Seven Springs Farm, Inc., Matthew Tarosky, Three Rivers Enterprises Inc., David A. Tonnies, Cynthia G. Urgo, Donald J. Urgo, Virginia's Pheasant Run Limited Partnership, David A. Webber, Lorie A. Webber, Harold Wiegel, Steven H. Wiegel, James P. Wilhelm, Paige M. Wilhelm, Jackie Wolfe, Jacquelyn K. Wolfe, Tim Wolfe, and Timothy W. Wolfe, Petitioners

v.ROCKWOOD AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT and Somerset Area School District, Respondents

No. 133 C.D. 2020

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Argued February 8, 2021

Decided March 31, 2021

Robert I. Boose, II, Somerset, for Petitioners.

James R. Cascio, Somerset, for Respondent Somerset Area School District.

BEFORE: HONORABLE P. KEVIN BROBSON, President Judge, HONORABLE MARY HANNAH LEAVITT, Judge (P), HONORABLE BONNIE BRIGANCE LEADBETTER, Senior Judge

OPINION BY JUDGE LEAVITT

Petitioners own contiguous parcels of land located in the Somerset Area School District and seek to transfer this land to the Rockwood Area School District by establishing an independent school district. The Secretary of Education, Pedro A. Rivera, concluded that because no student resides in the proposed independent school district, the petition lacked merit from an educational standpoint. Accordingly, the Secretary did not evaluate the evidence presented in support of, and in opposition to, the petition. Petitioners assert that the Secretary erred because the Public School Code of 1949¹ does not require students to reside in the proposed independent school district as a condition precedent to the grant of a transfer petition. For the following reasons, we reverse the Secretary's adjudication and remand the matter for specific findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Background

Petitioners own 22 acres of contiguous parcels of land in Jefferson Township that are assigned to the Somerset Area School District. Petitioners filed a petition with the Court of Common Pleas of Somerset County (trial court) to create an independent school district in order to have their land transferred from the Somerset Area School District to the Rockwood Area School District.

The petition offered six reasons for the transfer: (1) the schools in the Rockwood Area School District are closer to the proposed independent school district by at least six miles; (2) the land owned by Petitioner Seven Springs Farm, Inc., is divided between the Somerset and Rockwood Area School Districts; (3) the residential development known as Pheasant Run is divided between the Somerset and Rockwood Area School Districts; (4) Rockwood has a better student/teacher ratio; (5) Rockwood offers superior educational opportunities; and (6) Rockwood has a lower tax millage. Attached to the petition was a tax map identifying the territory proposed for the independent school district. Some of the parcels have not been developed, and some of the developed parcels are used as second homes.

Somerset Area School District opposed the petition, arguing that an insufficient number of "taxable inhabitants" had signed the petition because only two of the Petitioners had their permanent residence in the proposed independent school district. The trial court agreed that an "inhabitant" was a "permanent resident" and dismissed the petition. This Court reversed. See In re Independent School District for Property Situate in Jefferson Township , 74 A.3d 389 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2013) ( Jefferson Township ). Observing that "taxable inhabitants" had been expressly defined in precedent as persons that can "lawfully be taxed," this Court held that Petitioners were "taxable inhabitants" with standing to petition for the establishment of an independent school district. Id. at 396. The Court reasoned that had the legislature intended to limit standing to permanent residents or legally domiciled persons, it would have so stated. Id .

After the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied Somerset Area School District's petition for allowance of appeal, In re Independent School District for Property Situate in Jefferson Township, 624 Pa. 693, 87 A.3d 321 (2014), the trial court entered an order directing the Secretary to determine whether the petition has merit from an educational standpoint.

Pre-Adjudication Determination

On April 22, 2014, the Department of Education forwarded an Educational Impact Projection Questionnaire to both the Somerset and Rockwood Area School Districts, requesting extensive information about each school district. The Questionnaire sought a summary of each district's academic results and educational outcomes in prior years, including SAT/ACT scores and Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) test² scores, as well as information about the impact of the proposed transfer on educational opportunities, instructional programs, organization/staff, facilities, special education and transportation. The Questionnaire sought information about the number of students that would be transferred.

Somerset Area School District responded that it has 2,263 enrolled students. Because most of the homes in the proposed independent school district are vacation homes, no school-aged children live there. Further, Somerset's records did not show that enrolled students had ever lived there. Somerset stated that the transfer would cause a loss of revenue that could adversely affect its pre-kindergarten program; the enrollment of its students in the Somerset County Technology Center; and its music and art programs. In the event of a transfer, Rockwood Area School District would have to assume some of Somerset's debt, which could have a negative financial effect on Rockwood.

Rockwood Area School District responded that it has 729 enrolled students and 23 nonpublic students. A transfer would have a minimal educational impact, but with the increase in tax revenue, Rockwood would be able to expand educational opportunities for its students.

The matter was assigned to Deputy Secretary Matthew S. Stem for a determination. He decided that a "central consideration in evaluating educational merit is whether the proposed transfer is beneficial for students." Deputy Secretary Determination, 12/11/2018, at 22. Because no students resided in the proposed independent school district, he concluded that it was impossible to evaluate the educational merit of the proposed transfer. The Deputy Secretary dismissed Petitioners’ assertion that the proposed transfer may induce families with school age children to reside in the proposed independent school district as "conjectural and unsubstantiated." Id . at 25. The Deputy Secretary explained that

[t]he legislature clearly envisioned a mechanism to create independent school districts predicated upon an existing student population that would both educationally benefit from a newly created independent school district and support the arrangement.... Transferring a territory that is currently devoid of students, and significantly, never had any students residing within its boundaries and which lacks convincing evidence that any students may reside there in the future and enroll in the receiving school district, is not aligned with the statutory intent of the law.

Id . (emphasis added). In the absence of "an existing student population" in the proposed independent school district, the Deputy Secretary held that the petition lacked educational merit. Id.

Hearing and Adjudication

Petitioners requested a formal administrative hearing to challenge the Deputy Secretary's decision. The Secretary appointed a hearing officer, who conducted a hearing on August 1, 2019, in which Petitioners and the Somerset Area School District participated. They presented a joint stipulation of facts and exhibits, as well as witness testimony.

The parties stipulated to the following. Based on three different bus stops, travel to Rockwood schools from the proposed independent school district would be shorter by 10.9 to 19.6 miles. Stipulation ¶9. From 2011 to 2019, student enrollment in both school districts declined. Id . ¶¶11-12. Somerset reduced its administrative staff by one employee; Rockwood did not. Id . ¶¶15-16. During that period, Rockwood's tax millage was 21.89, and Somerset's increased from 37.96 to 41.70. Id . ¶¶5-6. In 2012, the student/teacher ratio in Rockwood was 13-1, and 14-1 at Somerset. Id . ¶10. The District Report Cards for the 2010-2011 school year showed that, in math and reading, Rockwood students performed better. Id . ¶7, Ex. E. The territory proposed for the independent school district is a small part of Jefferson Township that is contiguous to Rockwood. Id . ¶4, Ex. D. The Pheasant Run development is taxed by both districts. Id . ¶¶17-18, Ex. F, G. Seven Springs Farm, Inc., is divided between Rockwood and Somerset, with the majority of its land in Rockwood. Id . ¶19.

Petitioners presented the testimony of Annette D. Ganassi, one of the Petitioners and a real estate agent. She testified that prospective home buyers routinely consider the school district where the home is located, including the proximity of schools and the school district's ratings. They also consider the real estate taxes imposed by the school district.

Ganassi resides in the Pheasant Run development, which is located in both...