An agency housing troubled teenagers in Penn Forest Township says it's not getting enough money from the Jim Thorpe Area School District to continue to operate its on-site classes. If the district won't ante up more cash, the agency says it would be forced to enroll its clients in the school district.

That possibility has parents upset.The school board has scheduled a public informational meeting at 6 p.m. Monday in the high school auditorium.Parent Kathy Schwartz has created a Facebook page, "Stand Up For Our Schools," to generate discussion on the matter."All children should receive or have the opportunity to receive an education. But, how do you balance their rights with the rights of our children who have not committed a crime? How do you balance our rights as taxpayers into this school district against the rights of those kids whose parents have no financial responsibility toward them? Why should our children suffer?" she wrote.Jim Thorpe school board President Dennis McGinley said Superintendent Barbara Conway and solicitor Gregory Mousseau would field questions from the audience before the meeting starts, from 6 until 7 p.m.The school board convenes at 7 p.m. McGinley would not comment on the Youth Services Agency matter.Teenagers are sent to the treatment facility, commonly referred to as Camp Adams, by courts.The agency says the facility is not a detention center but rather a residential treatment center.The Bucks County-based Youth Services Agency of Pennsylvania, issued a press release early Friday saying that some of the clients have committed no crimes and that none have committed serious or violent offenses.Money is at the heart of the matter.The agency says it's negotiated with the school district for more than a year over how much money it needs to be able to continue on-site classes."The district has always been responsible for our students and the school has always operated under a cooperative agreement with YSA, but has not done enough," the agency said."For a decade, YSA has run the on-site school without any local JTASD direct funding though the district has a legal obligation to educate our kids."The district does contribute state funding, the agency said. But it is "only about half the actual cost per student in any school district, so we simply cannot continue our on-site school at half the amount spent on the average JTASD student."The agency did not respond to a request to release the amount of funding it receives from the school district.According to the agency, the school district delayed payments from last year, "causing severe cash problems now bringing this matter to a head, after a year of negotiations. If we are forced to close our on-site school, JTASD would be responsible to bus YSA's residents to their schools, to be responsible for security, and to integrate YSA's students fully with local students."According to state school code, "The board of school directors of any school district in which there is located any orphan asylum, home for the friendless, children's home, or other institution for the care or training of orphans or other children, shall permit any children who are inmates of such homes, but not legal residents in such district, to attend the public schools in said district, either with or without charge for tuition, text books, or school supplies, as the directors of the district in which such institution is located may determine."The agency's Penn Forest Township center has had its troubles.Local police are sent after runaways, residents have assaulted one another, and in late October, 2010, three of the teens escaped and broke into the home of an older couple who lived nearby.They robbed the couple at knifepoint and stole their car before leading police on a high-speed chase before being captured.The teens were charged as adults for their crimes.