It’s two more steps for the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District budget for the next school year, and one more step for all-day kindergarten. The proposed final budget will be voted upon during the May 15 school board meeting, then voted on for final adoption at the June 19 meeting. Also planned for a June 19 vote is the matter of all-day kindergarten.
School board directors received presentations on both issues during their May 8 work session. Director of Finance Joe Deady gave the budget presentation saying there have been some changes since the May 1 budget hearing and gave two options.
“There’s not much difference between the two options. “Deady said, “The difference is in the weighted average increase and whether the resulting balanced budget or deficit that remains in the budget.”
The difference is that the weighted increase would be 4.95 percent with option one, and 4.1 percent with option two. Option one results in a balanced budget for 2023-2024, while option two calls for using almost $381,000 of the current fund balance to balance the budget.
“For context, the impact for the average homeowner in the difference between option one and two is slightly over $68 [$68.84] in Chester County and just over $62 [$62.90] in Delaware County,” Deady said.
In raw numbers, it’s a difference of $633,000 in total revenue between the two options, he added. Option one also creates a surplus of more than $252,000, and estimates revenue at more than $101.15 million. That revenue drops slightly to $100.52 million with option two, and that results in a deficit of $381,000.
Deady said the pros for option one include funding all-day kindergarten below the Act 1 tax limits in future years, funding the capital plan through borrowing, and removing a deficit from the proposed 2023*-2024 budget. The con, he said, was that the tax increase is above the Act 1 index.
Option two also funds the capital plan through borrowing and keeps the proposed tax increase within the Act 1 index. On the con side, he said, option two keeps the current deficit and funds all-day K at Act 1 limits.
Both options eliminate a transfer of $500,000 from the general fund to the capital fund. Deady said the long-range capital plan would be funded by future borrowing.
Whichever option is chosen next week, there could still be changes made to the proposal before the June 19 vote.
A copy of the budget presentation can be found here. A more detailed view of the proposed final can be found here.
The other matter to be voted on during the June 19 meeting is when to start all-day kindergarten. There was some confusion last week concerning when it should start, and the administration said there would be a formal recommendation on May 8. That recommendation is now to start all-day K during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Director of Curriculum and Instruction Michael Audevard said during the presentation that the Kindergarten Committee feels that it would take two years to prepare for the shift to all-day K.
“There’s a lot of moving pieces there,” he said. “The two years would give us adequate time to put together an excellent program.”
He said having all-day kindergarten will give more time to laying a strong academic foundation focusing on early literacy and intervention, and to emphasize “outdoor and nature-based learning opportunities.”
In addition, he said, all-day kindergarten supports mental health, social skills, executive functioning, and emotional regulation.
There will be more discussion on all-day K during the May 15 U-CF meeting and again during the June 12 work session before the vote on June 19.
The kindergarten presentation can be found here.
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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