Because school district officials missed the deadline for filing a challenge, Republican Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife are still considered Penn Hills residents and do not have to repay the school district for the cost of enrolling five of their six children in the online Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School.

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Sen. Rick Santorum and his wife, Karen, leave a press conference in front of State Office Building, Downtown, after announcing that state officials ruled that they do not have to repay the Penn Hills School District for their children's tuition at the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. Click photo for larger image.

In a ruling issued last Friday, Barry Kramer, chief hearing officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Office of General Counsel, said "Penn Hills' inexplicable failure to object within the statutorily mandated timeline, or even within a reasonable approximation of that timeline, nullifies its tardy objection."

Estimates of the tuition paid by Penn Hills range from $34,000, which Santorum claims was paid to the cyber charter school, to $67,000, which some school board members say the district paid. Under state law, a school district must pay a fee set by the state for each resident who attends a charter school.

The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, based in Midland, serves about 3,100 students from nearly 400 school districts statewide. The students participate via computer.

If Penn Hills doubted Santorum's residency, Kramer said in his ruling, it needed to file a complaint within seven days of the Santorums notifying the school district that their children would attend the charter school. For the 2003-04 school year, that deadline was July 16, 2003, and for the 2004-05 school year, it was June 30, 2004.

The district, however, failed to contest the children's residence until Dec. 8, 2004, Kramer said in a proposed ruling sent to Education Secretary Francis Barnes.

The state did not rule on the substance of the school district's challenge that it should not have to pay tuition for the Santorums' children because school officials do not believe the family physically resides in Penn Hills despite owning a home there, voting there and paying what taxes there. Santorum and the school district have 30 days to appeal the state's preliminary ruling.

State education officials said no other charter school residency disputes have come before a hearing officer before, so there is no precedent for whether a challenge filed on time might have succeeded. Most residency issues, they said, are resolved by informal mediation between the charter school and the school district.

Yesterday, Santorum said he and his wife, Karen, were pleased the state dismissed "the baseless and politically motivated charges of the Penn Hills School District."

"Coincidentally, not until it was time for my re-election campaign did these questions about our children's education arise, and it was even less of a coincidence that these allegations originated from the Democratic chair of Penn Hills who is also a member of the Penn Hills school board," Santorum said at a news conference yesterday outside the State Office Building, Downtown.

Santorum did not respond to questions after his remarks. He and his wife have been home-schooling their children in Leesburg, Va. -- where he has said they spend "the vast majority" of their time -- since questions were raised about their residency last fall.

Santorum said last fall that he and his family typically return to Penn Hills during holidays and usually stay at the home of his wife's parents, who live next door to the house he and his wife own on Stephens Lane.

"They raised 10 kids there, so they have plenty of room for us," he said then.

Erin Vecchio, the Democratic chairwoman and Penn Hills school board member who pressed the district to challenge Santorum's residency, said her criticisms were motivated not by politics but by comments such as those.

"It's 'When we come to town, a couple of kids go to my mother-in-law, a couple of kids go to my aunt's -- how is that residency?" Vecchio asked. "I guess because he's a U.S. senator he can get away with anything."

The house on Stephens Lane that the Santorums bought in 1997 after moving from Mt. Lebanon has been rented out almost since it was purchased, Vecchio said. Santorum often votes in Penn Hills by absentee ballot.

Penn Hills Superintendent Patricia Gennari, who filed the residency challenge on behalf of the district, declined to say whether the district would appeal.

"At this time, it would be premature for district administration to comment before the district's solicitor and the full nine-member board of school directors has the opportunity to review the information," Gennari said in a prepared statement.

A Penn Hills Democrat, state Rep. Tony DeLuca, has proposed tightening the residency rules for online charter schools -- a move he said was prompted by Santorum but not meant as a politically motivated "shot" at the two-term senator.

Under the proposal introduced last month, a Pennsylvania school district need pay the tuition of cyber charter students only if they physically live in that district with their parents or guardians for "at least 183 nights of the paid school year."

Nationally, some Democrats have said one of their main goals in the 2006 elections will be to defeat Santorum, the third highest-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate and a possible presidential candidate in 2008. Santorum's opponent next year is likely to be well-known Democratic state Treasurer Robert P. Casey Jr.

Yesterday, Santorum tried to ensure his residential controversy will not undermine him during that race. No one's children -- and especially not small, school-age children -- should be used as pawns in the "politics of personal destruction," he said.

"I can assure you that I will not involve my opponent's children in the upcoming Senate campaign and neither will my surrogates," Santorum said. "I am challenging my opponent to join me today in making this public commitment to my children."

Casey's campaign didn't let go of the issue so quickly.

"Nobody is attacking Rick Santorum's children nor should they ever, but Rick Santorum needs to be held accountable and answer questions about his use of public tax dollars,'' said Jay Reiff, campaign manager for Casey. "Those are all legitimate questions."