Propel Charter Schools is collecting resident signatures necessary to appeal the rejection of its proposal to open a school in the Woodland Hills School District.

The school board last week rejected the proposal 5-3.

During a public hearing Oct. 26, the board objected to the plan, saying that the charter school would siphon away pupils and tax dollars.

In July, Propel officials announced that they hoped to open a school to serve children in the eastern suburbs, particularly the Woodland Hills and Penn Hills districts.

Board members who opposed the initiative said the charter school, along with channeling away funds, offers nothing new.

"I read through the proposal three times," said William A. Driscoll as he flipped through the document in the meeting. "I was looking for the 'wow factor.' There wasn't [any] to be found there. When it comes to curriculum, we can match Propel line by line."

Driscoll, Cynthia Lowery and Randy Lott complained that the state's 7-year-old charter school law puts public and charter schools in untenable positions.

"It asks school districts essentially to shoot themselves in the foot by considering charter applications in this manner," said Lott.

"It's a bad law. But I think we have the responsibility to consider ... the originality of the petition, the support for the petition."

He said that, although he has received letters and petitions backing the charter school, "I'm not sure that I see overwhelming support."

While three Woodland Hills board members -- Lowery, Lott and Fred Kuhn -- voted for the proposal, they said they still opposed a charter school in the district.

"There's not one of us that doesn't want to keep those kids in the district," said Lowery. "But there was nothing in the proposal that was not within the law."

A score of families, parents and children wearing yellow and red buttons that read, "I Propel," attended the session.

Vaughn Whisner, of Forest Hills, the father of two preschool sons, told the board the district needs competition.

"If you're the only option, why do you need to improve?" he asked.

Before the meeting, Fawn Burch, of Swissvale, whose 7-year-old son attends Propel's flagship school in Homestead, said the charter school's distinction is not written in its proposal. It's in the small classes and in the atmosphere promoted by the staff.

"In this school they wear uniforms," she said. That results in little focus on "the kind of shoes you have or the kind of name-brand jeans you have."

The uniforms and an egalitarian philosophy practiced among the teaching staff mean "everybody's equal. Nobody's treated differently," Burch added.

Still, Propel has been rejected before.

Early this year, after presenting proposals to set up in the McKeesport and Montour districts, both boards turned the group down.

This summer, however, the state Charter School Appeals Board overturned the McKeesport rejection. A decision on the Montour school board's thumbs-down is expected Tuesday.

Now, Propel operates a charter school in Homestead with plans to open two more in McKeesport and Montour next year. Officials say they hope to enroll up to 280 children in kindergarten through sixth grade in each school.

Last month, the Penn Hills board said the charter school law did not consider the economic strain placed on districts with charter schools. Consequently, they asked Propel to withdraw its proposal. Then, when the group declined, the board refused to vote on it.

Even so, Propel spokesman Bob Crytzer said the group is looking at three sites:

The old Eastmont School in Wilkins,

A building on Monroeville Avenue in Turtle Creek that houses AWK Consulting Engineers Inc.,

Or a site at 701 Rodi Road in Penn Hills.

After the Oct. 26 meeting, Crytzer said the group had already begun collecting signatures necessary to file an appeal.

They must garner signatures from 2 percent of the population in the affected communities or a total of 1,000 names, whichever is less, Crytzer said.

The appeal must reach Harrisburg within 60 days.