As anticipated, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board, in a 9-0 vote, approved granting a $97,700 contract for a stormwater management project at Hillendale Elementary School. Only one resident spoke out against the plan before the vote was taken on April 15.
Storm runoff from the school property is causing flooding at Hickory Hill and Craigs Mill roads. It’s damaging private property and creating a silt problem in Craigs Mill Run. The contract to fix the problem — which includes installing a storm basin, establishing rain gardens and reforestation — went to Gessler Construction of Media.
Bruce Yeltin, of Pocopson Township, told the board during the first public comment period of the night that the work should have been done years ago when it would have been less expensive and before the school district bought the property, a former museum. He also said Pennsbury Township should have done the job. For the district to foot the bill now, he said, “isn’t right.”
School Board President Eileen Bushelow acknowledged Yeltin’s concerns and agreed it would have been less expensive if the situation had been addressed earlier, but that it would cost even more if the board pushed it off until later.
Jeff Leiser, the school board director who had previously expressed concern about the district funding the project, changed his mind and voted yes. He said he accepts that it is the district’s responsibility to fix a problem that starts at district property. He also likes the fact that the project will be used as a teaching opportunity. The work will be part of Hillendale’s science curriculum.
Also involved in the project are the Brandywine Conservancy, the Brandywine Valley Association and Pennsbury Township. The district will be applying for grants to defray the almost $98,000 cost.
“The community is rallying behind us,” Leiser said. “There are great opportunities to offset the cost.”
Directors also approved, 9-0, a $20,000 contract for a new scoreboard at the Unionville High School. Getting the job is Nevco, a scoring and display company from Greenville, Ill.
The scoreboard will have slots for business sponsors’ names. There will be one slot just below the school name at the top of the scoreboard, and another slot at the bottom.
Director Frank Murphy, who later announced his resignation from the board effective June 17 [see Murphy leaving school board, this issue], said he was originally against the scoreboard project, but changed his mind because he now sees it as a “test case” of the board’s ability to do a sponsorship.
Other business
• Board members voted against authorizing sabbaticals for four teachers. That vote was 6-3. Superintendent John Sanville recommended the requests be denied. Voting against the recommendation were Kathy Do, Gregg Lindner and Holly Manzone.
• The board and the UCFEA, the teachers’ union, are engaged in preliminary talks regarding the next teachers’ contract. The current contract expires June 30. Director Vic Dupuis said the teachers would work under status quo — under the current contract — until there’s a new contract. There is currently a $1.5 million difference over a two-year period between the board and the union.
About Rich Schwartzman
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.
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