UCF board approves preliminary budget

Posted by Jim Phreaner on February 16, 2011

Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board members voted
9-0 in favor of a preliminary $69,768,266 budget for the fiscal year 2011-2012.

The preliminary budget is based on approval
of a 0.99 percent school tax increase in the district’s Chester County
townships and a 4.61 percent hike in Chadds Ford, Delaware County. The Chadds
Ford school tax increase is a result of the Delaware County school tax
rebalancing.

School Superintendent Sharon Parker said the
preliminary budget is a work in progress. She believed the Chester County increase reflects the
challenging economic conditions, she said. However it is possible the school board may
have to consider a 1.4 percent school tax increase for the 2011–2012 tax year
if subsequent information dictates the higher amount of tax increase.

There will be further discussion of the
preliminary budget at the Feb. 22 board meeting scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Hillendale
Elementary School.

Other
business

• Board member Jeffery Leiser
reviewed the proposed modifications to the school calendar to makeup for the
unscheduled school closings due to inclement weather.

The proposed changes would eliminate the
March 11 and May 17 student days off and add four extra days in June. The
proposed calendar modifications were posted to the school district’s Web site.

• Corinne Sweeney announced her intention to retire from the school board
effective Dec. 31. Sweeney commented it had been her pleasure to serve her U-CF
school district constituents for the last 18 years. However, she said it was
time for a new person to step forward and serve.

Sweeney has represented Region A—East
Marlborough and West Marlborough townships—since she was first elected to the board in 1993. She is
the associate dean of the University of Pennsylvania New Bolton Veterinary
Center.

About Jim Phreaner

After 41 years of auditing large NYSE global corporations, former IRS Agent Jim Phreaner was looking for a project in retirement with fewer regulations and more people. He joined the staff at Chadds Ford Live more than a year ago. James Edward “Jim” Phreaner, 64, died suddenly in his Birmingham Township home on Dec.17, 2012. Jim was a devoted husband, son, father, friend, and neighbor.