It's still not known whether Leechburg Area students could attend vo-tech full time if their parents pay the additional cost.
District students now attend Lenape Tech part time, getting their academic instruction at Leechburg.
Jenelle Pochiba has asked the school board whether her son, a junior this fall, could attend Lenape full time if she pays the difference between part-time and full-time tuition.
District Solicitor Bob Cinpinski said he has not found anything legally that would prohibit that.
However, Cinpinski said district officials have not yet heard back from the state Department of Education for its opinion. Until then, there's no clear answer one way or the other, he said.
In addition to the department's input, Superintendent Tiffany Nix said the district is also checking special education requirements.
“Every special education student is required to have a free and appropriate education,” she said. “I want to make sure we're not violating anything by having parents pay the other 50 percent. I want to make sure we're not violating any students' rights.”
District officials could not say how much a parent would have to pay for a student to attend Lenape full time.
Based on current costs, Pochiba said she believes she would have to pay $7,000 for her son to attend Lenape full time for the 2016-17 school year. Nix said that sounded about right. Nix said she has not heard from any others parents interested in paying to have their children attend Lenape full time.
Pochiba said her son began attending Lenape as a sophomore part time, which all Lenape 10th-graders do.
She said he is excelling in computer studies at Lenape and that she would want him to be there full time, especially in light of the fact that Leechburg may change to full time participation at Lenape for the 2017-18 school year, her son's senior year.
“He's where his niche is,” she said. “He'd like to stay up there full time.”
In addition to Leechburg, students from Apollo-Ridge, Armstrong and Freeport Area school districts attend Lenape.
Leechburg Area officials have said that Lenape will be increasing the district's cost for half-time participation from half to 75 percent of tuition, to better reflect the cost of the technical education it provides.
Pochiba said she realizes $7,000 is a lot of money, and not every parent would be able to afford it.
“If you want something bad enough, you'll make it work,” she said.
Cinpinski said the school board may need to schedule a special meeting to act on the question as soon as possible before the start of the coming school year.
The school board next meets on Aug. 10. Students return to school on Aug. 24.
Brian C. Rittmeyer is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-226-4701 or at brittmeyer@tribweb.com.
