Chadds Ford Elementary School now has a new principal and the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District has a new budget for the next school year. What it still doesn’t have is a new board member.
Shawn Dutkiewicz was hired to replace Mark Ransford as CFES principal. The appointment becomes effective June 27.
Dutkiewicz, who’s been the principal of Pennell Elementary in the Penn-Delco School District for nearly 7 years, told the board he hopes to prove that the decision to hire him was the right decision.
Superintendent of Schools John Sanville said, “He is the right person at the right time.”
Ransford retired in April. Tom Tobin filled in as principal on a temporary basis.
While the elementary school now has a permanent fulltime principal, the school board itself is still without a replacement for Eileen Bushelow who stepped down from the board for personal reasons.
Four candidates were interviewed for the position during the June 9 work session, but the board was unable to reach a majority opinion during a vote on June 16.
The original candidates interviewed were Bennett Baird, Arnie Klingenberg, Robert Sage and Hsinte James Yen, but Klingenberg withdrew his name before the regular meeting.
Baird was eliminated after the first vote, getting two votes, while Yen and Sage each received three. Yen and Sage then tied 4-4 on two more votes.
State law requires that a candidate get five votes to be appointed to fill the remainder of the term.
The board will vote again on July 14. At that time, Baird will again be considered. If no candidate gets the needed five votes, the decision goes to the Court of Common Pleas.
Other business
• School Board directors passed the 2014/2015 budget. It estimates revenues of $75.7 million and expenses at $76.9 million.
Taxes will increase. Chester County residents will see their millage rate jump to 26.44 mills while those in Chadds Ford Township in Delaware County will see an increase to 22.2 mills. The blended increase is 2.6 percent. A mill is a tax of $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value.
• The board also voted to opt out of the National School Lunch Program on the high school level. As previously reported, Director of Food Services Marie Wickersham recommend the withdrawal because guidelines that will go into effect in July are more restrictive.
She told the board on June 9 that there had already been a drop in the number of high school students participating in the program because they don’t like the food and anticipated even more of a decrease next year. High school lunches will still follow the guidelines established in 2011.
The decision does not affect meals on the middle or elementary school levels.
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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