Skye Ognen (left), a representative of the Mt. Jewett Charter School Coalition, is greeted by Mt. Jewett Borough Council President Dick Danielson (right) after her presentation Monday at council's regular monthly meeting at the library. The group is proposing a charter school in Mt. Jewett to replace the Mt. Jewett Elementary School, which is being closed at the end of the current school year. Photo by Ted Lutz

MT. JEWETT - The Mt. Jewett Borough Council is standing behind efforts to create a charter school in the borough.

The Mt. Jewett Charter School Coalition is making plans to bring a charter school to the community at the start of the 2008-09 school year. The proposed charter school would replace the Mt. Jewett Elementary School, which is being closed at the end of the current school year.

"I encourage you," Mt. Jewett Council President Dick Danielson told the coalition members who attended Monday's meeting of the borough council at the Mt. Jewett Memorial Library. "I commend you for doing this for Mt. Jewett and for the kids of Mt. Jewett."

Skye Ognen, one of several coalition members at the meeting, said the charter school group is "getting things started" to bring a charter school to Mt. Jewett.

Since the proposed charter school apparently won't be up and running in time for the next school year, Mt. Jewett children in kindergarten through fifth grade will be bused to Kane to attend the Chestnut Street Elementary School.

Kindergarten and first-grade students from Mt. Jewett already attend the Kane school. The Mt. Jewett school now has a total of about 50 students in second, third, fourth and fifth grades.

Ognen told council the coalition has been "putting a lot of effort in on this."

"We've done a lot behind the scene," she said.

Ognen said the group is working with an attorney and plans to schedule a community meeting, probably at the Mt. Jewett Fire Hall.

"We truly need community support," she said.

"We're excited about this," Doug Keller, another coalition member, told council. He said the chance to create a charter school in Mt. Jewett is "a fantastic opportunity."

He said the coalition needs the community to "embrace" the charter school plan to keep a school in operation in Mt. Jewett.

"I wouldn't argue with that one little bit," Danielson told the coalition. He advised the group is "get your ducks lined up" when presenting the concept to the public.

Danielson said the borough council gave its "blessing" to the charter school idea when Keller and others came before council last summer.

Because council has not been approached since, Danielson wondered whether the idea "fizzled out."

Jeff Swanson, another coalition member, said there was "nothing we could do" until the Kane School Board actually voted to close the Mt. Jewett Elementary School. That vote came in December.

Keller said a representative from the Tidioute Charter School will be invited to attend the community meeting in Mt. Jewett to discuss the charter school concept.

Keller said the coalition also plans to establish a Web site on the Internet. The Web site is now "under construction," Keller said.

The closing of the Mt. Jewett Elementary School is part of a proposed school consolidation plan. The first-phase of this proposal calls for the construction of a new district elementary school as an addition at the Kane Middle School. The project also calls for the renovation of the middle school.

When this project is complete, at least three years from now, plans also call for the closing of the Chestnut Street Elementary School.