The taxpayers of Pocono, Pennsylvania have been sending millions of dollars to Shawnee Tabernacle Church in rent and building improvements, far more than is appropriate, according to the school board, which uncovered the information during hearings. So, they took action.
Since 2005, the church charged the charter school some $3.5 million to rent a building to which the school had limited access after hours. The school spent another $900,000 on improvements to the property.
Pocono Mountain School District's board of directors voted 7-0 Wednesday night to revoke the school's charter, and cited this outlay of public money — among others — as evidence that church and state had become inappropriately entangled at the charter school.
The school district has not determined whether it will try to recoup any of the money.
The Pocono Mountain Charter School has announced it will appeal the ruling.
