Lehigh Valley Academy applying for new charter
In an unusual case, Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School, which has existed for almost 20 years, is asking the Bethlehem Area and Saucon Valley school districts to approve a new charter that will make moving into a new building smoother for the charter school.
Monday night, Lehigh Valley Academy officials were before the Bethlehem Area School Board with a charter application it hopes the board will approve starting in 2020.
The K-12 charter school has a charter that expires in 2021. Rather than apply to amend or renew that charter, the school is asking for a new one to avoid going through the renewal process while constructing a new school. LVA, which rents in Hanover Township, Northampton County, wants to move to a 200,000-square-foot building in Bethlehem Township in 2023.
If approved, a new charter would go through 2025, by which point LVA hopes to be in its new facility.
It’s common for charter schools to have their existing charter renewed by school districts, but it’s unusual for an existing charter to apply for a new one.
LVA needs to have approval from both the Bethlehem Area and Saucon Valley school districts because it’s a regional charter school. The Saucon Valley School Board held a hearing last week on the request but has taken no action. Each board has 75 days from the first hearing to make a decision.
If either district denies the charter, LVA has the right to appeal to the state Charter Appeal Board. It cold not appeal if a relocation request was shot down by either district.
Last month, the Bethlehem school board hired Allison S. Petersen, of Levin Legal Group, as special counsel to represent the district during the charter school’s application for a new charter. Bethlehem Area is expected to have a second hearing for LVA’s application.
Most of Monday’s presentation was for Mauser to give a presentation about the school. LVA opened in 2002 and follows the International Baccalaureate curriculum, a globally focused program that requires students to take a series of demanding tests to receive an optional IB diploma. All students K-1 study Mandarin Chinese. The charter school also started offering Project Lead the Way in 2018, something Bethlehem Area schools also offer.
Mauser also said the charter application meets the requirements needed under the state charter school law.
Lehigh Valley Academy previously estimated the new school would cost $45 million, plus the $5.4 million agreement of sale for the land, which is east of Butztown Road in Bethlehem Township. But now LVA officials say the cost of building the school could be more than expected.
LVA previously said it was looking to build a new school that would open in fall 2023 — when its current lease is up — because it was economically better to own than rent. LVA leases 154,800 square feet in four facilities at 1550, 1560, 1640 and 1650 Valley Center Parkway.
The charter has also outgrown its current facilities, Mauser has said. The proposed new school would include a gym and auditorium.
Several people spoke in support of LVA at Monday’s meeting and said they like having school choice options for their children. Teacher Brenna Howard, a Bethlehem Area School District product, said she has been teaching at LVA since 2008 and found her home there.
LVA parent Amanda Hildenbrand said she likes the environment; every teacher knows who her fifth grade son is.
“My child is somebody there,” she said. “He is not a number.”
Most of the charter school’s 1,700 students come from the Bethlehem Area School District.
Morning Call reporter Jacqueline Palochko can be reached at 610-820-6613 or at jpalochko@mcall.com.