[10] According to traditional graduation rate calculations: In 2011, Cranberry Area Junior Senior High School improved to AYP status.

[15] According to a Pennsylvania Department of Education study released in January 2009, 21% of Cranberry Area High School graduates required remediation in mathematics and or reading before they were prepared to take college level courses in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education or community colleges.

[29] The students at Cranberry Area High School are required to write a research paper and give an oral presentation.

By Pennsylvania State School Board regulations, for the graduating classes of 2016, students must demonstrate successful completion of secondary level course work in Algebra I, Biology, English Composition, and Literature for which the Keystone Exams serve as the final course exams.

This state program permits high school students to take courses, at local higher education institutions, to earn college credits.

At no cost to the parents, these services are provided in compliance with state and federal law; and are reasonably calculated to yield meaningful educational benefit and student progress.

When screening results suggest that the student may be eligible, the district seeks parental consent to conduct a multidisciplinary evaluation.

Parents who suspect their child is eligible may verbally request a multidisciplinary evaluation from a professional employee of the district or contact the Special Education Department.

Students identified as gifted attending the High School have access to honors and advanced placement courses, and dual enrollment with local colleges.

School districts are required by state law to keep 5 percent of their annual spending in the undesignated reserve funds to preserve bond ratings.

In 2010, the district reported that 462 pupils received a free or reduced-price lunch due to the family meeting the federal poverty level.

For 2010-11, the Cranberry Area School District received a 2% increase in state Basic Education Funding resulting in a $6,851,632 payment.

The amount of increase each school district receives is determined by the governor and the secretary of education through the allocation set in the state budget proposal made in February each year.

[87] According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education, 442 district students received free or reduced-price lunches due to low family income in the 2007-2008 school year.

The Accountability Block Grant program requires that its taxpayer dollars are focused on specific interventions that are most likely to increase student academic achievement.

These interventions include: teacher training, All Day Kindergarten, lower class size K-3rd grade, literacy and math coaching programs that provide teachers with individualized job-embedded professional development to improve their instruction, before or after school tutoring assistance to struggling students.

[89][90] The Classroom for the Future state program provided districts with hundreds of thousands of extra state funding to buy laptop computers for each core curriculum high school class (English, Science, History, Math) and paid for teacher training to optimize the computers use.

[91] The district received an extra $1,737,328 in ARRA - Federal Stimulus money to be used in specific programs like special education and meeting the academic needs of low-income students.

[93] Participation required the administration, the school board and the local teachers' union to sign an agreement to prioritize improving student academic success.

According to then Governor Rendell, failure of districts to agree to participate was cited as one reason that Pennsylvania was not approved.

[96] The Cranberry Area School Board chose to participate in the Pennsylvania Department of Education Common Cents program.

Irregular property reassessments have become a serious issue in the commonwealth as it creates a significant disparity in taxation within a community and across a region.

Districts are not authorized to raise taxes above that index unless they allow voters to vote by referendum, or they seek an exception from the state Department of Education.

[110][111] Each year, the school district has the option of adopting either 1) a resolution in January certifying they will not increase taxes above their index or 2) a preliminary budget in February.

A school district adopting the resolution may not apply for referendum exceptions or ask voters for a tax increase above the inflation index.

Districts can no longer raise property taxes to cover increasing health insurance costs for employees.

[116] In 2009, the Homestead/Farmstead Property Tax Relief from gambling for the Cranberry Area School District was $203 per approved permanent primary residence.

The Pennsylvania Auditor General found that 73% of property owners applied for tax relief in Venango County.

Pennsylvania awarded the highest property tax relief to residents of the Chester-Upland School District in Delaware County at $632 per homestead and farmstead in 2010.

[126] In March 2011, the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Fiscal Responsibility Task Force released a report which found that consolidating school district administrations with one neighboring district would save the Commonwealth $1.2 billion without forcing the consolidation of any schools.