At Tuesday’s meeting, district solicitor Fred Wolfe discussed the letter from Chesapeake Energy asking the board’s permission to transfer the lease.

The district signed its subsurface drilling lease for about 200 acres of the school’s property in February 2010 and would be able to keep the upfront payment of more than $400,000 regardless of whether board decides to sign the lease over to Range Resources.

Wolfe told the board that the lease cannot be assigned from Chesapeake to Range Resources without its approval. He said that since the Chesapeake is not planning to drill in the area, the “chance of receiving royalties is limited.”South Fayette Township’s current zoning ordinance states that there is no drilling permitted in residential areas, which includes the school campus. The township and Range Resources have both filed appeals to Allegheny County Court.