John Sanville – ChaddsFordLive.com

Letter to the Editor: Sanville must go

At the Unionville-Chadds Ford] School Board’s special meeting on Oct. 28, I asked four questions about students attending Unionville-Chadds Ford schools while they resided in their parent’s primary residence that was outside of our district’s boundaries.

UCF Superintendent of Schools John Sanville stated in a letter to me dated Nov. 4, that he decided to treat my queries as a right to know request I was to receive a reply by Dec. 4.

I finally received a “reply” on Dec. 6, stating that I had requested information and not records as required by the RTK law. Dr. Sanville felt the information I requested is beyond what is required of public agencies.

“Consequently, I hereby deny your requests for information,” the letter said.

This would be laughable if the subject matter was not critical to the operation of the district. It adversely effects all UCF taxpayers. I must conclude that Dr. Sanville and this district have something to hide.

The response is completely inadequate, totally unacceptable, and possibly illegal. I again request a meaningful reply to my questions of Oct. 28.

I have also noticed a drastic increase in the number of resignations the district has received over the first four months of this school year. There is apparently much dissatisfaction amongst our employees. Resignations have occurred at all levels from part-time bus drivers and even to school board directors.

There have been 19 resignations reported and approved from Aug. 16, to Nov. 18. The previous school year over the entire 12 months UCF experienced only 18 resignations.

Morale among employees is probably at an all-time low even when compared to Jack Kenney’s term of service. The administration and the school board should immediately start addressing the employees’ concerns.

The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District’s academic accomplishments, as publicly reported, are also declining under the current leadership. The latest published information states that UCF is no longer ranked in the top 10 districts in Pennsylvania.

This is a drastic decline from our recent 1-2 rankings a few years ago. Again, this has a direct and adverse effect on all property values in the district.

This board should start immediately to conduct a search for and hire a new superintendent before the start of the 2014-15 school year. Sanville’s  performance over his three years as superintendent has not been acceptable.

Java John must go.

This Board needs to get the UCF School District back on the right track.

Bruce Yelton
Pocopson Township

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Sanville denies Manzone’s allegations

School & Education

Unionville-Chadds Ford School District Superintendent John Sanville said the district does not make deals when it comes to residency violations.

Yet, just such an allegation was leveled at the district administration in Holly Mazone’s resignation letter on Oct. 21. Manzone abruptly stepped down with only one month remaining in her four-year term on the school board.

In the letter, she listed a number of board and administration actions she said were wrong, but said the biggest issue was that a deal had been struck allowing an out-of-district student to attend Unionville High School.

In a telephone interview a day after the resignation, Sanville said he would not breach confidentiality of things discussed in executive sessions, but did say the district follows the letter of the law and investigates “vigorously and aggressively” every time it hears of residency infractions, even to the point of employing private investigators, to confirm legitimate residency.

People must show various forms of proof of residency and sign an affidavit to that effect. Some of the documentation includes leases, mortgages and drivers licenses.

“Residency is complex and it’s not always what you might think. I can tell you we vigorously and aggressively pursue all residency complaints that come to us,” he said, “and we do not strike deals.”

Sanville said the district’s guide on the matter is Pennsylvania state law.

“We do not make deals with anyone,” Sanville said. “What we do is follow board policy and state law.”

He said there were 30 investigations regarding residency issues two years ago and there are about a dozen right now.

“When we know about them, we pursue. Sometimes we find that they’re unfounded and sometimes we find that folks need to register in schools where they live,” he said.

In her resignation letter, Manzone said, “[T]he district administration failed to adequately investigate and pursue a clear violation of our residency requirements, confirmed by investigative reports.”

She said the administration failed to defend the interest of district taxpayers, then dragged its feet and struck a deal without telling school board members.

That deal, she said, “includes forgoing back tuition payments for the period of non-residency and a pledge not to question district residency in the future.”

She went on to say she was denied access to reports justifying the action.

She said state law — Section 1302 of the School Code — provides that a child is considered a resident of the school district where his or her parent resides.

Manzone has represented Region B since being elected four years ago, but previously decided not to run for a second term.

To read the original story on Manzone’s resignation with her full letter of resignation, go here.

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School board welcomes new school year, seeks wall of fame nominations

School & Education

Excitement and enthusiasm are the two best words to describe the tone of Aug. 20 Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board Meeting.

Superintendent John Sanville jokingly opened the meeting by reciting the three good reasons for choosing teaching as a career.

“The good reasons to teach are June, July and August.”

He continued his remarks with an enthusiastic report on preparation for the Aug. 27 return of more than 4,100 students to the now quiet school classrooms.

Sanville also reported on the school district convocation held earlier in the day Monday. The convocation highlight, also noted by several board members, was the sense of team spirit and “High Hopes for the academic year,” coupled with a dedicated and experienced faculty well prepared to teach. Convocation included recognition of several teachers’ decades of service to district students.

Unionville High School’s 2012 Wall of Honor nominations are open. Sanville said he looks forward to this year’s nominations of high school alumni to the Wall of Honor.

“The recognition of the Wall of Honor alumni perpetuates our tradition of excellence and serves to inspire current students.”

He noted that Amanda McGrory, class of 2004, is an outstanding example of distinguished alumni.

“I will be rooting for Amanda to win a gold medal in the marathon at the London Paralympics. She is an outstanding example of overcoming challenges to achieve greatness with humility.”

Outstanding alumni are selected annually for Wall of Honor recognition. The purpose of this prestigious award is to recognize U-CF district alumni for their lifetime achievements. The eligibility requirements are

Candidates must be Unionville-Chadds Ford School District graduates; must have graduated at least five years prior to the nomination, and must have attained a high level of achievement in at least one of the following areas: personal and/or professional life; community/ humanitarian service; or lifelong commitment to educational excellence.

A committee of district community members —past Wall of Honor awardees, students, parents, and distinguished alumni — select outstanding graduates annually. Unionville High School Wall of Honor Alumni recipients and the nomination form are found on the UCFSD web site at http://www.ucfsd.org/woh/index.html

Other business

• Keith Knauss, Chairman of the board’s Finance Committee briefly commented on the recent discussion of earned income tax and other finance matters.

Knauss said, “There will be no further current discussion of earned income tax as there presently is zero support on the school board. A few years ago there was an E.I.T. referendum mandated by Harrisburg which district voters rejected by a 2 to 1 margin.”

Knauss also said, “The district should realize a savings of approximately $100,000 per year through the upcoming refinancing of the school district’s debt as the interest rates are very favorable. Refinancing should be completed within the next three months.”

• The next board meeting will be held Sept. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Unionville High School auditorium. Time will provided for School District resident remarks and questions to the School Board and District Administration.

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Sanville forecasts future budget shortfalls

Along the Ford, School & Education

The school district is looking for ways to cut some programs that have low enrollment.

By Jim Phreaner

Unionville Chadds Ford School District faces at least three years of challenging financial issues that Superintendent John Sanville described as an “economic tsunami.”

The UCFSD Board Finance Committee Meeting held met Monday night prior to the monthly work session was the forum for the grim financial forecast.

During the U-CFSD Finance Committee meeting, Sanville said local revenue forecasts are flat, and that the economy is not generating any increase in real estate transfer taxes and other local revenue sources.

“Even our most conservative budget forecasts,” Sanville said, “indicate next year’s budget shortfall may be $1,500,000. The shortfall will increase another $1,500,000 in each of the next succeeding 2014-15 and 2015-16 school budgets. Contributing factors include the spiraling cost of funding pensions and salary and benefit costs. These projected shortfalls are very significant as our entire budget is approximately $71 million dollars.”

District Business Manager Robert Cochran said the district is looking for ways to asve.

“We are employing a variety of strategies to find educational programs to cut where there is low student enrollment. Recent examples have been middle school German language and high school consumer science. We are also collaborating with the transportation and support staff employee groups for suggestions to generate savings.”

Cochran also reported on the recently released homestead / farmstead exclusion calculation, saying “This property relief is generated from designated profits from Pennsylvania gaming activities. The calculated relief of $223 per property this year is almost the same amount of last year’s property tax relief. Each school tax bill will reflect a reduction in assessed property valuation which will correspond to a $223 reduction in school tax.”

The May 14 district work session followed their standard business agenda that previewed the monthly school board meeting which will be held at Pocopson Elementary School at 7:30 p.m. on Monday May 21. School Board Director Kathleen Do led a discussion of student wellness and use of district facility policies for approval on May 21 and the first readings of various board policies.

According to Do, “We live in a rapidly changing technology world and our school district policies need updating.”

She added the district bullying policy remains an important topic of discussion.”

Public comment at the end of the work session featured Birmingham Township resident Harry Miller’s remarks about the Republican administration in Harrisburg obligation to change the public school employee defined benefit pension benefit.

“DuPont, Pfizer and most large corporate employers have abandoned defined benefit pensions as they are noncompetitive and prohibitively expensive. The private sector employers now have enhanced 401k defined contribution plans. Governor Corbett’s administration has the support of Republican controlled Senate and legislature to clean up the pension mess created by former Gov. Tom Ridge,” Miller said.

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