§ 2.37. Standards for approval.
(a) An administrative unit shall be defined as a geographic area under the control of a single board of school directors.
(b) An administrative unit shall be planned as a contiguous geographic area. Exceptions to contiguity may be made only in situations where the administrative unit in whole or in part includes a noncontiguous geographic area which had been previously approved by the Board as an administrative unit or had operated as an administrative unit, a school district or joint school system during the 1967-1968 school year.
(c) An administrative unit shall be planned to offer a full program of instruction, kindergarten or grade one through 12, and provide administrative leadership, supervision and instructions at a reasonable cost consistent with the local taxable wealth and state financial support available per pupil.
(d) An administrative unit shall make available an educational program and educational opportunities to meet the varying needs, aptitudes, abilities and interests of individuals residing in the administrative unit.
(e) An administrative unit shall embrace one or more secondary attendance centers and supporting elementary attendance centers.
(f) An administrative unit shall be planned to include the largest feasible pupil population which assures the maximum efficiency of operation, and which justifies curricular offerings and other essential services not economically possible in smaller administrative units.
(g) An administrative unit meeting or exceeding the mandated 4,000 pupil average daily membership as determined for the 1966-1967 school year and any administrative unit proposing a reduction of the mandated minimum pupil population shall be planned with consideration of, but not limited to, the following factors:
(i) Topography. An administrative unit shall be planned so that all parts of the unit are reasonably accessible for efficient operation and supervision.
(ii) Pupil Population. Pupil population changes may be considered in the planning of administrative units when the changes are supported by reliable studies of area development showing past pupil population trends and future projections based on recognized statistical methods. Examples of reliable studies of area development are those made by planning commissions, public utility companies and established survey agencies.
(iii) Community Characteristics. Consideration should be given to whether a geographic area has developed characteristics of a community. Community, as used here, includes one or more municipalities and the surrounding territory from which people come for business, social, recreational, fraternal or similar reasons. Neither race nor religion shall be a factor in determining administrative unit boundaries and differences in the social and economic level of the population shall not be a basis to determine these boundaries.
(iv) Transportation of Pupils. Distances traveled, travel conditions, time consumed, and the safety and general welfare of the pupils should be basic considerations in developing administrative units. Planning of transportation systems should avoid duplication and, insofar as practical, the transportation of pupils through the area of an adjacent administrative unit.
(v) Use of Existing School Buildings. An administrative unit shall utilize existing buildings to the maximum extent practical avoiding unnecessary new construction where possible.
(vi) Existing Administrative Units. No part of an existing school district may be separated and added to another administrative unit, except as provided in Act 383, approved December 19, 1967 or as provided in the annexation laws. Administrative units already established as school districts under Act 299 (24 P.S. § § 2-290—2-298) may be included in administrative units planned under this act only if the existing school district so established grants consent.
(vii) Potential Population Changes. Population changes may be considered in the planning of administrative units when the changes are supported by reliable studies of area development showing expansion of the area and by growth projections based on recognized statistical methods. Examples of reliable studies of population growth beyond a normal projection are those made by planning commissions, public utility companies and established survey agencies.
(viii) Capability of Providing a Comprehensive Program of Education. For purposes of reorganization planning, ‘‘capability of providing a comprehensive program of education’’ shall mean: The ability to educate and train each child within his capacity to the extent demanded by the immediate requirements of his growth and his relationship to the strengthening of this Commonwealth and nation, and shall include, but not be limited to, wealth per pupil, qualifications of professional staff, enrollment and diversification of curricula.
(h) County plans shall provide for the inclusion of all the area within a county, unorganized as stated previously, into one or more administrative units and, with the concurrence of the county board or boards of school directors of an adjacent county or counties, may include contiguous area across county lines. School districts established under the provisions of Act 299 may be included in a planned administrative unit of the plan if the school district so established grants consent.
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