In Archer v. Rockwood Area Sch. Dist., Petitioners filed an action with the trial court to create an independent school district in order to have their land transferred from the Somerset Area School District to the Rockwood Area School District. The Secretary of Education concluded that because no student resided in the proposed independent school district, the petition lacked merit from an educational standpoint. Accordingly, the Secretary did not evaluate the evidence presented in support of, and in opposition to, the petition. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court reversed. The Court analyzed 24 P.S. ยง 2-242.1 and held that a petition for establishing an independent school district does not require that students presently reside in the proposed independent school district for the petition to undergo an evaluation for merit from an educational standpoint.
