The May 9 Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board
work session included a polling of school directors support for the amount of
next year’s school tax increase. Six school board directors support a .99
percent Chester County tax increase (4.61 percent Delaware County school tax
increase) which is less than the Act I potential ceiling.
Those directors who signaled support for the
lesser tax increase were Timotha Trigg, Keith Knauss, Jeff Hellrung, Corrine
Sweeney, Frank Murphy and Paul Price. Directors—Holly Manzone, Jeff Leiser and
Eileen Bushelow—said they would not support approval of the proposed budget as
they favor the Act 1 ceiling 1.4 percent tax increase.
District Superintendent Sharon Parker is
still looking for help from the state.
“I hope help from Harrisburg may be on the
horizon,” Parker said. “The state legislature has very recently indicated it
will provide additional funding.”
Business Manager Robert Cochran is also
looking top Harrisburg.
“The state legislature may provide additional
funding to UCFSD to offset perhaps as much as $884,000 of the proposed
$1,097,826 cuts in the proposed budget.”
The school board must pass its budget before
the state budget gets passed, and this poses a quandary for the directors.
“We have to approve a budget without knowing
what the Harrisburg legislature may be doing. While the vote for the proposed budget doesn’t set anything
in stone, it does fix a budget for the required one month public comment
period,” Trigg said.
As the ultimate funding from Harrisburg is
uncertain, the 2011-2012 budget to be voted on May 16 does not reflect
additional funds that might be coming from Harrisburg.
Cochran presented the 2011- 2012 proposed
school budget that trimmed expenses by $1,097,826 to reflect potential funding
cuts proposed by Gov. Tom Corbet.
The 2011-2012 school budget will be finalized
at the June 2011 school board meeting when the amounts of the Chester and
Delaware County tax millage rates will be set by the school board.
Other
business
The district Web site would be updated to
include bids on transportation outsourcing. Cochran said that he hoped to have
the bid process finished an online by May 13.
Once the bid preliminary analysis is
complete, the bus transportation employees and the school board directors will
be briefed. The May 16 school board meeting will include a public update on the
preliminary bid analysis.
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.
Imagine losing your job, facing eviction, or watching your
debt mount because you are unable to pay your bills. For some in our community,
one setback can be the first step into a downward spiral. Having support during a tough time in
life can be the first step toward getting someone back on his or her feet.
While there is an abundance of existing social services in
the Greater West Chester area, knowing what they are, where to go and who is
eligible for support creates undue hardship for those whose circumstances are
already difficult. Faith communities are often the last hope for individuals
and families in crisis.
The Council of Greater West Chester Faith Communities
recently hired Hallie Romanowski to serve as the ACT in Faith ministry
coordinator.
“Act in Faith uses a holistic approach or using resources
which are already available to help people in crisis,” Romanowski said in a
recent interview.
She said an excellent example is resolving women’s homeless
issues in West Chester which have been significantly eased when Matlack Street
based Safe Harbor recently expanded their dormitory facilities to include 19
beds for women.”
ACT in Faith of Greater West Chester seeks to provide
physical, financial and spiritual support to those in the area whose basic
human needs are going unmet by facilitating communication, coordinating
support, and supplementing resources to broaden the reach of existing social
services and programs.
Romanowski is actively recruiting volunteers to assist those
seeking assistance from the Greater West Chester faith community. Comprehensive
training and support will be provided to all volunteers. Volunteers will serve
as trained community mentors to find ways to adequately address social services
issues that may be complex. Some of the unmet social service issues include
assisting the elderly or transitioning a homeless family into a new apartment.
“There are several program areas which are actively seeking
community volunteers. Advocates in
Faith provide intake from individuals who contact Act in Faith seeking
assistance. The Advocates
will utilize ACT NOW resources which will be an email alert chain currently
being built. ACT NOW volunteers may
have expertise in an area of need,” Romanowski said. “Act in Faith is actively
seeking mentors to serve as community friends to those in need. The mentor can be a bridge of
hope for a person in need”
ACT in Faith has established a modest Faith Emergency Fund that
has assisted a single mother from being evicted, purchased bus tokens to get
someone to their new job for a month and assisted in payment of utility bills.
To send a donation, send a check to ACT
in Faith of Greater West Chester, which is an approved IRS 501(C) (3) Non-Profit
Organization. The office is
located at The Church of the Holy Trinity, 219 S. High Street, West Chester, PA
19382. Romanowski’s phone number at ACT in Faith is 484-324-8492. The email address is
contact@actinfaithgwc.org.
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.
The frustration and anger over
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget that contains $1.1 billion less
for education is caused not because Mr. Corbett is a skinflint who hates kids,
but because of the nature of the public school system and the dependence on the
state and federal government.
Indeed, it may be said that
dependence on any level of government for education is dangerous.
In all too many cases, the
standard K-12 public school system—as established by state government—is not
much more than a 12-year sentence that forces kids into a one-size fits all teaching
model.
This is not to say the model
doesn’t work for some. It does, and very well—but only for some. There are some
brilliant kids who learn well in the standard model. Others, though, merely
learn how to score well on tests while still others still are bored to death or
otherwise lost in the shuffle.
A typical response to that last
comment would likely be to throw more money at the problem, to spend it away.
That doesn’t work, however. It’s not the fault of the teachers or that there
are too few teachers. It’s the nature of a government system.
Consider the fact that Chadds
Ford Elementary school students, a few years ago, were writing book reports
about cereal boxes while a private school in Delaware had its students—at the
same grade level—reading Supreme Court cases.
Money spent on education has
actually gone up over the years. States used to handle education funding
themselves, but then the feds got into the mix when former President Jimmy
Carter established the Department of Education in 1980.
Since then, the federal
government has intruded itself into curriculum matters with unfunded mandates
and spent money it doesn’t have to give to states. That last part sounds great,
but now that the $1.1 billion in federal money Pennsylvania had been getting has
run out, people are up in arms, blasting the governor.
Everybody seems to want a piece
of somebody else’s money. And on the local district level, paying for public
education creates generational warfare. Public education, now at least, is
based on property taxes. Retirees, however, want that changed to an earned
income tax. Those who are still working argue that type of change would shift
the entire burden to them.
What would ultimately be fair
is that parents foot the bill for their children’s education, as some already
do because they send their kids to parochial or private schools. It is their
responsibility, after all. Private—secular or religious—and homeschooling must
not be ignored.
It may also be said that
government involvement in education is not necessarily good. Government doesn’t
educate; it socializes and creates obedience. Government is, after all, force.
More telling is that the United States built itself into an industrial and
economic leader in the world, and raised the standard of living to new heights,
well before Jimmy Carter and the Department of Education. Going back even
farther, men like George Washington and Benjamin Franklin only had a couple of
years of formal education.
It’s likely there will be
little agreement with what’s been said here. So be it, but consider that
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said that while it may not be time to
legalize marijuana, it is time for an open and honest debate on the matter.
This holds true for education. It’s time for an open and honest debate on
getting government, at least the federal government, out of education.
Camillo (Junior) Pedicone, 79, of Mt. Hope, Ontario, Canada,
formerly of Toughkenamon, died Dec. 15, in Bradenton, Fla. He was the husband
of Mary Ann Pedicone, with whom he shared 23 years of marriage.
Born in West Chester, he was the son of the late Camillo
Pedicone, Sr. and and Concetta DiStefano Pedicone.
He was a graduate of Kennett High School.
He worked at Pedicone Brothers in Toughkenamon, and West
Brook in Grimsby, Ontario, Canada.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by two sons, Nick
and his wife Joanne and their two children, David and Alex, and Chris and his
wife Kristine
You are invited to visit with his family and friends from 10-10:30
a.m. on Saturday, May 21, at the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home, 250 West State
Street, Kennett Square, (Phone: 610-444-4116). His service will follow at 10:30
a.m. Burial will be in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Route 82, Kennett Square.
In memory of Junior, a contribution may be made to the
American Heart Association, 1617 JFK Boulevard, Suite 700, Philadelphia, PA
19103 or to the American Diabetes Association, 150 Monument Road, Suite 100,
Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004.
Sparks is a young adult neutered male pit bull that is
currently available for adoption at the Chester County SPCA. He was found as a
stray on April 15, and brought to the Chester County SPCA to find his new
forever home. Sparks is a very loving dog who loves to give kisses and enjoys
riding in the car. He seems to know some basic behaviors but will need some
additional training. While Sparks has been in our care we have observed that he
gets a long with children and other dogs. Sparks is a great dog and is now
looking a responsible care giver who will give him the love and attention he
deserves. If you are able to provide Sparks a home, visit the Chester County
SPCA at 1212 Phoenixville Pike in West Goshen or call 610-692-6113. Spark’s
registration number is 96803443. To meet some of the other animals available
for adoption, visit the shelter or log onto www.ccspca.org.
An art opening in Chadds Ford
is not unusual. When the opening is for a 7-year-old, that’s a different story.
The opening in question was at
the Barn House Coffee and Tea on May 6 for Noor JontryMasterson, a
home-schooled youngster from Chadds Ford Township.
Noor’s work, both computer
drawn and hand drawn in pen and ink, is based on her fascination with
mythology, dragons, dinosaur skeletons and Warrior cats from a series of
children’s novels.
She’s been drawing since the
age of 3. She began drawing skeletons after a visit to the Smithsonian
Institute and is self-taught in the computer programs Adobe PhotoShop and
Illustrator. She said she learned the programs by watching videos on YouTube.
Noor said she would like to
continue drawing and maybe get into cartooning and animation later on.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
Most fish stories are about the
big one that got away. Others are about the little ones that are set free with
the hope that they come back as big ones.
That’s pretty much the
situation with shad, the Brandywine Conservancy’s desire to increase the shad
population in the Brandywine and the local school kids who are helping.
Students from three
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District elementary schools—Chadds Ford,
Hillendale and Pocopson—spent a week tending to fish hatcheries and then
releasing thousands of small fry into the Brandywine Creek or one of its
tributaries.
This was the second year Chadds
Ford and Pocopson third-graders took part in the project. The CFES students are
part of Sue Davis’s class.
The conservancy supplied the
eggs to the schools after Tim Lucas, a Conservancy staff member, harvested the
roe from the Potomac River on May 1. Students monitored their in-school
hatcheries, checking temperature, pH, nitrogen, ammonia and chlorine levels.
Students learned to differentiate between the viable and nonviable eggs. On May
6, the recently hatched eggs were released into local waterways. Chadds Ford
students released their fry into Ring Run.
The young fish will grow in
local water and imprint the location in their brains. In the fall they will
make their way down the Brandywine to the Christina River, the Delaware Bay and
then into the Atlantic Ocean. They will spend the winters off the coast of
North and South Carolina and migrate to the coast of Maine in the summer. After
four to six years in the ocean, the fish are expected to be mature enough to
begin a return route to spawn back in the Brandywine.
Shad used to be a staple along
the Brandywine and were an important food source for American Indians and early
settlers, but Lucas said pollution and dams decimated the population.
The dams made it impossible for
the shad to spawn and they are now being examined to determine their usefulness
and to see what options there are for fish passage.
Restoring migratory fish such
as shad would help other species—both birds and mammals—that depend on shad for
food.
In addition to the U-CF schools, Tower Hill School
Wilmington Friends School and St. Ann’s School released fish onto the
Brandywine Watershed, Upland Country Day6 School released into the red Clay
watershed and Avon Grove Charter School, Maclary Elementary School and Holy
Angels School released into the White Clay Creek.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
Representatives from the PTOs
of 12 school districts gave nine state legislators an earful over Gov. Tom
Corbett’s proposed state budget that eliminates an estimated $1.1 billion
dollars from education for next year.
While state Sen. Andrew
Dinniman, D-West Chester, agreed with the criticism levied against the
governor, several representatives said the budget is not final, that there will
be changes made before the legislature votes.
The session was held in the auditorium at West Chester East
High School on May 5.
Lisa Joyce, from the Kennett
Consolidated School District, called the proposed cuts an “attack” on
education. She said people would not have voted for Corbett or any of the
legislators supporting him had they known what the budget proposal would be.
She included state Rep. Chris Ross, who was sitting at the table with other
legislators, in her no vote comment.
“You don’t have a mandate to
dismantle our education,” Joyce said.
The cuts are more than double
what Kennett expected, she said. KCSD must now pick up all charter school costs
and, she said, the increased contribution to PSERS— Pennsylvania School
Employees Retirement System—from the district is simply wrong.
“The state created the pension
problem and it’s not fair that districts have to pick up the bill,” she said.
Kathy Do, representing the
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, said a loud and strong voice from the
public can put an end to spending cuts for education.
She cited the killing of Osama
bin Laden, then related another news story about retired generals arguing with
state and federal governments that reduced spending on education was dangerous.
“They referred to these cuts in
states like Washington, New Jersey and Pennsylvania as a ‘national security
threat,’” Do said. “According to these military leaders, if we continue to
decimate education budgets, not only will we fail to raise students to be the
best of the best, we will not even have enough men and women qualified for
military service at all.”
Do called the governor’s budget
“stunning in its shortsightedness.”
“It represents a three-pronged
attack that may well result in an entire generation of children ill-prepared to
compete for the jobs of the future,” Do said.
She said the governor wants to
eliminate the $260 million accountability block grant program that helps fund
pre-school programs and full-day kindergarten, that the $1.1 billion cut would
mean districts will have to layoff teachers, discontinue transportation and
stop programs aimed to benefit at-risk students. The third prong, she said, is
the plan to cut state aid to colleges by more than half.
“Mr. Corbett proudly claims
that his budget will help bolster the state’s economy in 2011. The question
that you [the legislators] must consider is what will happen to our economy in
20 years when these under educated children enter the workforce,” she said.
Each of the PTO representatives
mentioned the loss of programs and teachers and the increase in district
contributions for PSERS and for charter schools. Many of them suggested taxes
on Marcellus shale and increased corporate and gasoline taxes.
Yet, Unionville-Chadds Ford’s
Superintendent Sharon Parker raised another issue prior to the start of the
program.
“[There is] a timeline
disconnect between school budget mandates and the development of the budget on
the state level,” she said in a brief interview.
The school boards must have
their budgets in place by the end of June, but the state budget isn’t
necessarily final by then so the districts are basing their budgets without
knowing what they can get from Harrisburg.
“We all want to serve the same
good,” Parker said, “but we’ve got to find a way to communicate more
effectively with these two entities, the local and the state level.”
She said U-CF is now looking at
cutting programs and paring back on personnel.
Dinniman was the first
legislator to speak after the PTO representatives, and he agreed with their
criticisms.
“There is a hostile environment
created by Gov. Corbett about public education…through active neglect of public
schools,” Dinniman said.
He added that the burden on
districts is backwards, that the poorer districts face the larger cuts.
State Rep. Chris Ross, R-158,
of East Marlborough, said the $1.1 billion dollar cut for education in the
budget proposal coincides with the equal amount the state is not getting from
the federal government. However, he said the budget is not yet final and there
will be changes.
“Governors’ budgets are never
adopted in exactly the same form that they’re originally presented, so we’re
looking at a variety of different kinds of elements that we might be able to
deal with, but the fact is that the federal assistance in excess of $1 billion
expired with last year’s budget, so that $1.1 billion is gone,” he said. “We’re
working to see what amount of that we might be able to find through other cuts
elsewhere in the budget.”
State Rep. Tom Hennessey, R-26,
said the legislators have “gotten the message…and a lot of what we’ve heard
we’ve already discussed…The final budget will be significantly different, but
it will still be austere.
Comments from other school district representatives
Avon Grove: The district faces
highest tax increase in 6 years and students face higher user fees; may have to
cut support staff by 45 percent
Coatesville: The district
stands to lose $8.5 million in three areas of state funding; class sizes are
growing, called that “unacceptable.” “The state has to balance the dollar
amount and children’s education.”
Downingtown: Losing $4 million,
loss of teachers and aids, increased activity fees. The mandated contribution
to PSERS will go from $5 million to $25 million, the representative said.
Octorara: Sports programs cut,
PSERS and charter school funding too great a burden. Offered recommendations on
high performing, low spending districts: full day every day kindergarten,
tutoring for all students who need it, extended day and summer school programs,
development programs for teachers and staff, reduce classroom size.
Owen J. Roberts: Not affected
as severely as other districts, but will lose $10 million over three years. She
noted that the legislators have not volunteered to take pay cuts to help
balance the budget. “If we have to tighten our belts, you guys can too.” Also noted
that the budget calls for increased education programs for prisoners.
Phoenixville: PSERS up, funding
down, teachers are paying for supplies out of their own pockets. District may
cut AP and gifted programs. Shifting the financial burden from the state to the
districts is not fiscally responsible, he said.
Tredyffrin-Easttown- Shifting
the “unsustainable” pension to the districts is wrong. Money spent on pensions
is money not spent in the classroom. The district is cutting language and
computer classes. “We’re not cutting fat, we’re cutting bone.”
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
• A pair of smash and grab burglars hit the Old Wooden
Market and Deli in Chadds Ford Township during the early morning hours of May
9, but failed to get any money, according to deli owner Bill Bondarchuk.
The action of the two men was caught on surveillance tape.
Suspects broke in through a window, ignored an ATM machine, a self-serve
lottery machine, all the cigarettes and a charity cash jar with money in it.
They were in the store for 1 minute 16 seconds.
“They beat…my register, but didn’t get anything,” he said.
The video shows two men inside the store, banging a register
up and down on the counter and smashing at one with what appeared to be a
crowbar.
Both suspects were wearing black hoodies, one wore a ski
mask and the other a bandana over his face. One also wore glasses while both
wore gloves, Bondarchuk said.
State police have not yet issued a press release, but
Bondarchuk said troopers told him that the pair hit two other stores before
his, then hit another in Kennett Square after leaving Chadds Ford, and had
struck six stores in two days.
The break-in happened about 1:30 a.m.
• State police from Troop J, Avondale barracks, cited Daniel
P. Boyle, 39, reportedly from Chadds Ford, for a traffic violation following a
one-vehicle crash on Route 1 at Hickory Hill Road in Pennsbury Township. A
police report said Boyle’s car was travelling southbound when his car went off
the shoulder of the road, hit a utility pole and came to rest 20 feet away from
the pole, blocking the right southbound lane. Police said Boyle then fled the
scene on foot. When found at his residence, Boyle was found to be under the
influence of drugs and alcohol.
• The
Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced
that lane restrictions are scheduled on Route 1 (Baltimore Pike) at
Route 52 in Kennett Township, Chester County, from Monday through Friday
(May 16-20) for electrical conduit installation. Route 1 (Baltimore
Pike) will be restricted weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. through May 20.
• Concord Township supervisors
again continued a hearing on a solar and wind energy ordinance. The next
scheduled hearing date is Tuesday, June 7, at 7 p.m.
• The Brandywine River Museum
will offer free general admission on May 18 as part of Art Museum Day that
coincides with International Museum Day. Participation by museums emphasizes
the lasting impact art museums have on their communities, highlights the value
of the visual arts in society, and provides opportunities for audiences to
participate in the wide-ranging programs that art museums offer.
• Longwood Gardens’ Lilytopia
returns May 20-30. The largest lily show in North America features the latest
lily cultivars from renowned lilium breeders of the Netherlands, a professional
symposium, and more. More than 13,000 cut stems will be on display in
innovative and fragrant designs in Longwood’s Conservatory.
• The Delaware Museum of
Natural History will implement the following new admission prices effective
Wednesday, June 1, 2011:
· Adults (age 18 through 59): $8
· Seniors (age 60 and older): $7
· Children (age 3 through 17): $6
· Children (age 2 and younger): Free
• Chester County Bridge #236—locally
known as Chandler Mill Road Bridge—is closed to vehicular traffic. The closure
is a result of an annual inspection and a subsequent load rating analysis that
revealed critically deteriorated conditions. The duration of the bridge closure
will be determined after a review of all options by bridge engineers and
inspectors. The bridge carries Chandler Mill Road over the West Branch of Red
Clay Creek in Kennett Township.
