Lindner defeats Hellrung for Vice President; new board members sworn in
The newly sworn-in Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education poses for its first official portrait, Monday. New board president Victor Dupuis sits between new Vice president Gregg Lindner (left) and Superintendent of Schools John Sanville. Back row from left, Michael Rock, Carolyn Daniels, Jeff Hellrung, Kathleen Do, Steven Simonson, Keith Knauss and Eileen Bushelow.
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
EAST MARLBOROUGH — The Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education swore in five newly-elected members and elected a new board president — Victor Dupuis — during its reorganization meeting, Monday night.
Returnees Keith Knauss and Jeff Hellrung, were joined by newly-elected Carolyn Daniels, Steven Simonson and Michael Rock in taking the oath of office. Dupuis, who served as vice president of the board for the last year, was quickly elected as new president. Eileen Bushelow, who served as president the last two years, announced that she would not seek another term last month.
The only drama — such as it was — was in the election of a new board Vice President. Gregg Lindner was nominated by Bushelow, while Hellrung was nominated by Knauss.
Lindner won six votes: Bushelow, Do, Dupuis, Lindner, Rock and Simonson. Hellrung was supported by himself, Knauss and Daniels.
Hellrung was elected to serve as the district’s representative to the Chester County School Authority through January 2017.
Five members of the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education took the oath office Monday night. From left: Michael Rock, Jeff Hellrung, Carolyn Daniels, Steven Simonson, and Keith Knauss take the oath.
The board also voted to designate The Daily Local News — the lone local print media outlet that did not cover Monday night’s meeting — as its official legal advertisement publisher. Board members expressed hope that the state legislature would allow for the publishing of such notices with digital publishers — or on the district’s own Web site in coming years.
Beyond the hiring of a special education teacher for Patton Middle School, the board took no other action and — after posing for a new group picture — adjourned the public session to conduct an executive session on personnel matters.
The new board will take up its serious work in January, with a work session Jan. 14, and a regular board meeting on Jan. 21 at Patton Middle School.
How can Keith Knauss possibly know that people with benefits and people without benefits work harmoniously side by side in TE.
Have you interviewed employees in our district? Because I talk to them frequently. They are my friends and they are my neighbors. It is an issue. Using TESD as an example of employees with benefits working harmoniously with employees without benefits is not accurate. I am not mistaken.
Keith has stated more than once that Dr. Sanville and other board members read Community Matters. I encourage all U-CF citizens to read what Keith has written over the years.
Keith is very good at labeling in a negative way what others do and say. Just ask Dr. Manzone.
There is no confusion.
Unfortunately, TE Resident is confusing two very different topics at Tredyffrin Easttown School District.
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Topic 1 Collegiality – Ms. Do expressed a concern about people with benefits and without benefits working harmoniously side by side. As an example, I cited TESD where 60 paraprofessionals, all without benefits, worked well with other support staff and teachers with benefits over a period of years, if not decades.
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Topic 2 Wholesale Outsourcing – As a reaction to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) TESD, this spring, sought to outsource ALL paraprofessional jobs. All 60 of the paraprofessionals would have been fired and their jobs outsourced. There was community concern as TE Resident correctly states. However, UCFSD has no intention of outsourcing the jobs of current employees. Only open positions due to retirement or resignation would be considered to be possibly filled by contract employees. We value our current employees and have no intentions of disrupting our mutually beneficial employer/employee relationship.
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Thus, using TESD as an example of employees with benefits working harmoniously with employees without benefits is accurate. TE Resident has mistakenly attributed my comments to the wrong topic – that of wholesale outsourcing.
Looking at the Nov. 21st Chadsford Live cite, under Report Cards, Contracts and Farewells at U-CF:
When talking about outsourcing contracts to CCRES and CCS Technical Services, the vote was 6-2 with Do and DeWilde voting against.
Do said she was concerned about benefit receiving employees and non benefit receiving employees working side by side, doing the same job, yet not being compensating equally and the problems that may cause.
Keith Knauss then said these concerns are “over blown” and he cited my school district, TE, where there is no trouble.
This statement is misleading and simply not true. There was major concern over outsourcing for all kinds of reasons and Keith knows it. He even injected himself into the process last Spring by constantly posting on a community web site called Community Matters in Tredyffrin Township. Keith knows better than most residents in my township the uproar the threat of outsourcing caused in this district. As a matter of fact, the decision was reversed and outsourcing did not happen.
Why would the board vote to make the local daily news the lone local media outlet? That seems odd.
The Daily Local News was selected as The official legal newspaper for the district — it is likely that it is the lone publication that meets the state standards for placing legal advertisements.
What is the Unionville Times? Why doesn’t your paper meet the state standards for placing legal advertisements? Just curious.
We don’t have a print edition. We’re strictly digital and state law does not permit placing legal ads and notices with digital-only publications — or even on their own Web sites. I’m fond of calling it “The Newspaper Tax” — every municipality, school district and county (in other words, you and me — the taxpayer) must spend money each month to run ads in a handful of print publications. If this seems wrong to you — you should contact your local state legislator.
When the “Progressives” laud Dinniman’s school board election proposal that ends partisanship, then actively campaign for one of their own, I have to laugh at the hypocrisy. The school board should adopt a policy that prohibits sitting members from publicly supporting and actively campaigning for school board candidates. By not doing so, the political cliques may impede the average citizen from participating. More common sense and less partisanship will benefit the community.
Thank-you. It’s just that Keith Knauss has been so vocal about saying that:
“Board Members that think alike on an issue “talk and collude” (his quotations, not mine) with each other to reach a consensus and move an issue forward. He says it’s legal, ethical an necessary.
It may be legal, I don’t know, but IMO, it is not ethical and it is not necessary. It’s funny to me how Keith tells citizens what is ethical and what is necessary.
I wasn’t sure if this decision was reached through orchestrated collusion? or if they all simply got together, nominated their choice for V.P. and voted.
And how do citizens know when and if they do this? Is it O.K. to make decisions when only 4 or 5 of the nine have the information yet they all agree so the other 4 or 5 don’t get the info?
Do all boards operate this way? Interesting topic.
The board voted 6 to 3 in favor of Mr. Hellrung’s opponent. His only real vote of confidence was a new board member. Does anyone know if the Manzone incident had anything to do this?
I seriously doubt it.
On first blush — and only in a very rough sense, the new board appears to have three distinct flavors of thinking (to call them factions would be inaccurate and certainly overstating it — as to their credit, all appear able to cross ideological lines depending on the issue): Progressive: Do, Lindner and Rock; moderate: Dupuis, Bushelow and Simonson; conservative: Knauss, Hellrung and Daniels.
I wouldn’t read anything into Monday night’s vote beyond that.