NOTICES

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Approval of Resolution Establishing a Special Committee on the Riegelsville Independent School District

[42 Pa.B. 1789]
[Saturday, March 31, 2012]

 On March 15, 2012, at a regular public meeting of the State Board of Education (Board), the Board approved a resolution establishing a Special Committee on the Riegelsville Independent School District. The resolution follows.

KAREN MOLCHANOW, 
Acting Executive Director

Application of Riegelsville Independent School District for Transfer to the Palisades School District

Resolution

 Whereas, pursuant to section 242.1(a) of the Public School Code of 1949 (School Code), as amended, 24 P. S. § 2-242.1(a), a majority of the taxable inhabitants of the now-constituted Riegelsville Independent School District (Riegelsville), constituting a territory located within Bucks County and the Easton Area School District (Easton), presented their petition to the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County (docketed as 2007-02132-31), asking that the territory be established as an independent school district for the sole purpose of transfer to the Palisades School District (Palisades), an adjacent school district contiguous to Riegelsville; and

 Whereas, the Secretary of Education, pursuant to section 242.1(a) of the Public School Code, passed approvingly, from an educational standpoint, upon the merits of the petition for the creation and transfer of the independent school district; and

 Whereas, by decree entered February 24, 2012, pursuant to section 242.1(a) of the School Code, the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County (1) established Riegelsville for the sole purpose of its transfer from Easton to Palisades; (2) determined the amount of the indebtedness and obligations of Easton that Palisades must assume and pay and the schedule for remitting payment; and (3) stipulated that the transfer will take effect July 1, 2013, subject to approval of the State Board; and

 Whereas, the Court of Common Pleas, pursuant to section 292.1 of the School Code, as amended, 24 P. S. § 2-292.1, on February 24, 2012, submitted to the State Board a certified copy of its decree creating Riegelsville; and

 Whereas, under section 293.1 of the School Code, as amended, 24 P. S. § 2-293.1, the State Board is obligated, upon receipt of a court decree creating an independent district for transfer purposes, to place the item on its agenda and either to approve or disapprove the creation and transfer; and

 Whereas, there are no statutory or regulatory procedures, other than the General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure (1 Pa. Code Part II), that govern the manner in or procedure by which the State Board is to carry out its duties under section 293.1 of the School Code; and

 Whereas, on previous occasions when presented with applications of an independent school district for transfer, the State Board has designated a panel of its members to conduct proceedings and to prepare a report for consideration by the State Board, as approved by the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in Independent School District v. State Board of Education, 53 Pa. Commw. 38, 417 A.2d 269 (1980); and

 Whereas, the State Board, having discretion to supplement the General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure in carrying out its obligations under section 293.1 of the School Code finds it desirable and appropriate that a committee of the State Board be created for the purpose of conducting proceedings under 1 Pa. Code Part II, and preparing a report to the State Board;

 Now, Therefore, It Is Hereby Resolved as follows:

 1. The chairperson of the State Board will designate a committee of three (3) members to conduct such proceedings as might be appropriate under the General Rules of Administrative Practice and Procedure, to take any action (except final action) that may or must be taken under the rules by the agency or agency head, and to report to the State Board in accordance with this Resolution. All details of these matters, including the designation of a presiding officer, if appropriate, shall be left to the discretion of the committee.

 2. Upon completion of all appropriate proceedings, the committee shall report promptly to the State Board, recommending the proper disposition of the application for transfer.

 3. Upon receipt of the report of the committee, the matter shall be placed upon the agenda for action at the next available meeting of the State Board, and the participants shall be so notified.

 Given under my hand and our seal
this 15th day of March, 2012

Larry Wittig, 
Chairperson

 Attest:

Karen Molchanow, 
Acting Executive Director

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 12-602. Filed for public inspection March 30, 2012, 9:00 a.m.]

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---