Skye Ognen, president of the Mt. Jewett Charter School Coalition, distributes informational sheets to the audience prior to Thursday's meeting of the Kane School Board. The Coalition is planning to open a Charter School in Mt. Jewett next year and is seeking to use the Mt. Jewett Elementary School building, which was closed after classes ended in June. Photo by Ted Lutz.

The Mt. Jewett Charter Coalition is hoping to use the Mt. Jewett Elementary School as the site for the charter school it intends to open in another year.

So far, the Kane School District has declined a Coalition request to use the building, which was closed following the end of classes in June.

An estimated 55 Coalition supporters attended Thursday's meeting of the Kane School Board to again appeal for the use of the Mt. Jewett school for its proposed charter school. Several spoke.

"Your decision to not let us lease or buy the Mt. Jewett School is a poor choice on your part," Skye Ognen, Coalition president, told the school board. "Your plan is to keep the Mt. Jewett School building, thinking that this will prevent us from opening a charter school in Mt. Jewett. This is simply not the case."

Ognen said the Coalition has "located a temporary location" for its proposed charter school. "We are also reviewing avenues for building a school on a piece of property."

"We can and will locate the school somewhere," she added.

Ognen claims the school board is "costing the school district taxpayers money" by refusing to allow the Coalition to operate a charter school in the Mt. Jewett School.

"We are paying higher taxes and paying for you to keep the Mt. Jewett School in your possession," Ognen said. She cited building costs such as insurance, utilities and maintenance, including the mowing of grass and the shoveling of snow.

"These are things that I want taxpayers to think about," she said.

"You have an organization willing to buy or at the very least lease the building to defray the cost of keeping such a building.

"The taxpayers of this district should be questioning your decision."

Missy Swanson, vice president of the Coalition, said supporters of a charter school in Mt. Jewett will persist in their efforts.

"We are not going to stop," she said. "We are not going to give up. "We're not going away."

John Hayduk, who operates Seneca Flatbed in Mt. Jewett, claims there is a "communication gap" between the Coalition and the school board.

Rhonda Chilson of Mt. Jewett said "I feel like we're being ignored" by the school district.

Tony DeSio of Mt. Jewett distributed copies of administration e-mails linked with unsuccessful efforts by the Coalition to obtain items allegedly given to the former Mt. Jewett Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO).

DeSio's wife, Annette served as president of the PTO, which has since merged with the Chestnut Street Elementary School PTO.

The most dramatic speech came from Chuck Paar, a Coalition member and a candidate for the Mt. Jewett Borough Council in the Nov. 6 election.

"We believe closing our school is negligent and irresponsible," Paar told the school board. He claims the school board has been "trying for years" to find a "justifiable reason" to close the school.

He said the school board hired a consultant "costing taxpayers a lot of money" to develop the "opinion you desired" in favor of closing the Mt. Jewett School.

Paar said the word "area" should be dropped from the Kane Area School District. He said there would be "an outcry" Kane if the school board proposed a new school building in Mt. Jewett for all elementary students.

Paar, who raised his voice at times to emphasize points in his remarks, said the school board is "taking this district down a slippery slope" with its proposed school consolidation plan.

He said the Coalition is "determined to succeed" in its attempt to bring a charter school to Mt. Jewett because "they are our children, it is our school, it is our future."

There was applause following remarks by each Coalition speaker.

At the start of the meeting, school board President Larry Lamping said a board "policy" allots 10 minutes as the total time period for public comments on non-agenda items.

Paar said this policy was not explained to him when he called the office of School Superintendent Sandy Chlopecki to ask for permission to speak at the school board meeting.

"People deserve the opportunity to speak," Ognen said.

Although he cited the school board policy for non-agenda speakers, Lamping did not limit the speakers. In fact, the board was preparing to adjourn when Lamping acquiesced to a Coalition request and allowed two young girls to speak.

Logan Ognen said "I miss my school very much." Ashley Swanson said "please change your mind and let us have the Mt. Jewett School." Both girls will be in the fourth grade at the Chestnut Street Elementary School in Kane when classes resume Aug. 29.