The die is cast for the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board directors to vote on next year’s budget. Directors also need to appoint a replacement director for Mabel Yu, but they appointed a new high school principal during the June 13 work session.

School board members also set Oct. 17 for their vote on changing the school start times for students. The proposal calls for grades 6-12 to start classes at 9 a.m. and go to 3:43 p.m. Students in elementary school. pre-first through fifth grade, would be in class from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., while morning kindergarten would go from 8-10:35 a.m. and afternoon kindergarten would go from 11:55 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

While the vote isn’t until October, discussions will continue during each of the school board meetings and work sessions. District Communications Director Christa Fazio said this will give the team more time to collect data and listen to parents' concerns and opinions regarding any possible change.

“It allows the team time to gather additional feedback through surveys and possibly through another thought exchange, focus groups, and a traditional community conversation,” Fazio said.

A thought exchange in May raised several concerns. They included family concerns regarding childcare and family scheduled activities, after-school activities, student work schedules, and the possibility of having an all-day kindergarten.

She added that the May thought exchange involved more than 1,500 participants offering more than 1,000 thoughts on the subject.

Other business

• The budget directors will vote on during the June 20 meeting calls for a total appropriation of $95.4 million, with property taxes in Chester County at 30.73 mils, an increase of 2.57 percent, and 15.98 mils in Chadds Ford, an increase of 3.36 percent. It also calls for a 1 percent real estate transfer tax for the school system.

• School Board Director Mabel Yu resigned for personal family health reasons. Yu was elected in November and chaired the district’s Finance Committee.

The board will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. on June 20 to interview candidates, according to an email sent out after the Monday meeting by Superintendent of Schools John Sanville. He said the public school code requires that the board appoint a replacement by the end of the month. The person selected would serve until Dec. 4, 2023, but must run for reelection that November if he or she wants to continue on the board.

“Board membership requires a substantial time commitment, effective written, oral and listening communication skills, the ability to synthesize copious information, high ethical standards, and a willingness to participate in cooperative decision-making. Most board members find that the community impact and personal fulfillment of the position far outweigh the effort and occasional stress of this important and completely voluntary job,” Sanville said in his email.

Anyone interested in joining the board should fill out the application that can be found on the board’s website and then email it to lmiller@ucfsd.net.

• Amy Jenkins was named as the new principal at Unionville High School. She replaces Jimmy Conley who is resigning at the end of this month to become assistant superintendent at Wallingford-Swarthmore School District.

Jenkins is a former teacher in U-CF, was an assistant UHS principal, and has been the assistant principal at Bala Cynwyd Middle School since August of last year.