The Chartiers Valley Jointure
The Chartiers Valley Joint Schools was an eventual jointure between Scott Township, Heidelberg Borough, Bridgeville Borough, and Collier Township. 8 years of discussions, lawsuits, and partial agreements culminated in the first jointure between these school districts.
Prior to jointure discussions, Bridgeville Borough, Carnegie Borough, Collier Township, Heidelberg Borough, and Scott Township all operated their own independent school districts as mandated by Act 14 of 1949. Although this legislation required individual municipalities to operate their own districts, the aforementioned districts were already in existence as early as 1935, if not earlier.
The majority of the timeline here was provided by an investigation into the Carnegie Borough schools by the Pennsylvania Council of Education. From the multiple sources we located in historical archives, it’s overwhelmingly apparent that Carnegie struggled to integrate with neighboring communities and deliberately ostracized themselves. It appears that they preferred to remain independent and operate autonomously, even so far as violating state laws and mandates.
Discussions Begin (1948)
In 1948 - 1949, Bridgeville, Carnegie, Collier, Heidelberg, and Scott held reorganization meetings on the potential for a jointure. The Scott Township directors were the first to exit the discussions, with Carnegie exiting after reviewing the plans for the jointure budget. After Carnegie exited discussions, proposals for jointure would not begin again until 1951. [14]
In 1951 discussions resumed between the 5 school districts. Again, Scott Township swiftly exited the discussions. At this time, Scott Township had the largest student population by a significant margin and was the only district to have privately owned buses for transportation. Scott Township did not directly state in the hearings as to why they were disinterested in the two jointure attempts, however it’s probable that the township felt they were not to gain any significant benefit from a jointure. The district had constructed Scott Township High School (formerly Clark High School) in 1935 that provided ample room for students. It was often the case that jointure agreements stemmed from a need for additional funding and/or additional space for a growing student body. Scott Township suffered in neither of these aspects.
With Scott Township having exited the 1951 jointure discussions, the remaining 4 districts continued to deliberate. This round of discussions ultimately led to a signed jointure between Carnegie, Bridgeville, Collier, and Heidelberg.
Later Bridgeville withdrew on a technicality. Taxpayers in Collier Township brought suit against the Collier Board to prevent Collier’s participation in the joint board. The case was dismissed. Collier then refused to proceed with a jointure which did not include Bridgeville. The jointure did not become a reality.
Carnegie's Jointure Proposal (1952)
Carnegie Borough would then approach Collier Township in 1952 about the potential for a jointure between their school districts.[14] The articles of jointure were drafted in preparation of signing, although they were never formally adopted. Collier Township declined in September 1953.
Then, Carnegie without requesting recommendation of approval by the County Board requested the Department of Public Instruction to approve the construction of a new high school building in Carnegie.
County Administrative Units (1953)
During this time, Allegheny County’s Board of School Directors was proposing several plans for administrative unit reorganizations. The Allegheny County Reorganization Plan Section below contains a full history of their original plan and subsequent revisions. It’s important to note here that the plan submitted in 1953 and approved in 1954 did not include Carnegie, as “Carnegie was not included at the request of Superintendent Hickes. He preferred to deal with the Department of Public Instruction.”[14]
The County Board of School Directors of Allegheny County wrote a letter to Francis B. Haas, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in 1954 expressing their frustration with the state approving projects that should be under the purview of the county.[23]
With the county plan having been approved and not including Carnegie, the borough was left to operate semi-independently while the reorganization plans would continue to be revised. Later in August 1954, Carnegie Borough had plans to construct a new high school against several layers of recommendations.
Subsequently, in August 1954 Dr. Swan advised the Carnegie Board that construction of the proposed Carnegie High School would not serve the best interests of the school district.
Under the date of August 9, 1954, the County Board addressed a letter to Dr. Haas protesting approval of the construction of a high school in Carnegie.
A reply dated August 27, 1954 signed by Stanley Fellows indicated that the project had been approved.
Discussions Resume (1955)
In early to mid 1955, Scott Township initiated discussions about obtaining more space for high school education due to the growing population and limitations of the then Scott Township High School. While Greentree Borough was originally included in the discussions, ultimately they did not enter into the jointure.
In a county board meeting that December, it was noted that “Greentree doesn’t want to go into jointure at the present time.”[15] Carnegie Borough states that they “asked to be included in the jointure discussions being held by the neighboring boards”, but were ultimately informed “that the addition of Carnegie to the Chartiers Valley Jointure at that time would be disastrous. Chartiers Valley would break up.”[14] From an unofficial source, we understand that a major point of contention with Carnegie Borough’s school plan was surrounding the combined seniority. Purportedly, under the requirements set forth by Carnegie Borough, their education staff would retain seniority while those of the other districts would not. This is a second hand account and cannot be confirmed.
Jointure Formed (1955)
On December 12, 1955 the jointure agreement between Scott Township School District, Heidelberg School District, Bridgeville Borough School District, and Collier Township School District was signed by each district board president. This jointure created the Chartiers Valley Joint Schools effective July 1, 1956.
The Pennsylvania Council on Education approved the jointure for the 1955 - 1956 school year.
Scott Township Attempts Secession (1956)
Two months before the jointure would become effective, Scott Township School Board sent a letter to the Chartiers Valley Joint Schools on May 14, 1956 notifying of their intent not to participate in the jointure after a board vote. Under the terms of a jointure, each origin school district retains their own school board that elects members to the joint board.
Clashing personalities and over zealous district representation on the part of some school directors disturbed the operation of the New Chartiers Valley Joint Board. The Scott Township board passed a resolution in June of 1957 to withdraw from the joint board. The other boards meeting jointly authorized the solicitor to ask the courts whether the provisions of the joint board contract were binding and to initiate injunction proceedings to restrain Scott Township from withdrawing from the jointure. Following a session of formal proceedings, the Court invited both parties to a conference in his chambers. An agreement was signed whereby Scott remained in the jointure and the joint board agreement stood. A number of dissident board members failed to win reelection in the 1957 election.
In the eventual proposed budget for the jointure’s first year, Scott Township is valued at almost twice that of any other constituent district and almost double the number of pupils.[17] It is therefore reasonable to speculate that Scott Township saw itself as the predominant school within the joint district having the highest number of established pupils and the highest valuation. Additionally, Scott Township School District was the only constituent district to have its own private transportation, with students from other districts walking or contracted to private transportation groups.
The jointure between these school districts would never be dissolved, nor would any districts leave. In fact, the jointure would later be replaced by state mandated reorganization and would not make it to the ten year requirement for dissolution. The jointure agreement, however, did provide terms on withdrawal from the jointure:
THIS AGREEMENT shall continue in full force and effect for a period of thirty-two years, provided that any time after a period of ten years, any of the component Boards can withdraw from this jointure, provided that the Board seeking to withdraw must serve at least two years' notice after the expiration of the ten year period, and that the withdrawal must be made on an equitable basis and in such a manner so that the districts remaining in the jointure shall not suffer any unreasonable financial hards.
Jointure Publications
The 1956 - 1957 yearbooks for Bridgeville High School[20] and Scott Township High School[21] contain the first images and formal announcements of the jointure and its board. Perhaps surprisingly, the Scott Township High School yearbook provides the more in depth forward of the joint schools and mentions the cooperation involved.
The 1956 - 1957 school year also brought the first joint school budget proposal[17], found within the archives submitted to the state. The report contains an in depth look at the district at that point in time, including all schools serviced by the district. This provides a snapshot of the standing schools at the time before the reorganization period would result in physical consolidation of the school buildings. The budget for the 1956 - 1957 school year was $1,443,969. The tuition rate that year for a high school pupil was $320.30.