UCF board gives prelim approval to 2.01% tax increase, 5-4

Teachers express offense at educator award proposal

By Karen Cresta, Correspondent, The Times

EAST MARLBOROUGH – After much review of what items are new to the budget and the presentation of three scenarios by Robert Cochran, the district’s director of business and operations, the proposed final budget for 2015-2016 for the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Distrct was approved at Monday night’s board of education work session-by a 5-4 vote..

Meanwhile, a proposed addition to the budget as a $50,000 expenditure to ensure and reward teaching excellence was met with professional staff opposition and apparently, offense. 

The board modified one of the proposed scenarios presented previously at a public hearing on May 4 to include a 2.01% weighted average millage tax increase – 1.82% increase for Chester County and 2.84% increase for Delaware County.  The proposed millage rate in Chester County will be 26.92 mills and in Delaware County will be 22.83 mills.  (A mill is a tax of $1 for every dollar of assessed property value.) That increase is slightly above the Act 1 index of 1.9% — the limit for tax increases. School districts are allowed to apply exceptions for increases in the costs of pensions and special education, which would allow the district to go beyond the 1.9% limit.

The bottom line to the taxpayer is about $126 a year more for the average home owner in Chester County and an additional $163.50 in Delaware County.  The total projected expenditures for the district is $72,294,443.

The board discussed items from the General Fund and the Capital Fund that are new initiatives in the 2015-2016 budget.  In the General Fund there are wellness initiatives from the Wellness Committee that total $70,000.  There are many curriculum initiatives such as the Chromebook Pilot program in the amount of $159,580, the Learning Management System (LMS) Professional Development in the amount of $80,000, the Curriculum Cycle Writing Professional Development in the amount of $173,300 and many others.

A heavy hitter to the budget is the ACCESS funded special education money that is $230,000 more than expected, as well as student specifics to special education – the entry level students with special needs has more than doubled from 2014-2015 in the amount of $250,000 – $300,000. This accounts for approximately $7 million and roughly 10% of the overall budget.

Board member Jeff Hellrung suggested that a committee be formed to monitor budget trends such as with special education increases and class action suits and how those numbers are evolving in the district. He suggested the district and the board needs to be involved and proactive.  Superintendent of Schools John Sanville agreed that the board must be involved in a knowledge standpoint and not a decision-making standpoint (based on student confidentiality) and understand why it happens.

Also under the General Fund new initiatives are bus purchases in the amount of $300,628 that were approved in March and bus warranties currently being analyzed and, if approved, could possibly cost $19,372.  The Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU) initiatives could have a net savings to the district of approximately $90,000 and other initiatives that could have a net savings to the district of approximately $13,000 were reviewed.

The board also discussed what’s new with the 10-year capital plan for improvements to Hillendale and the C.F. Patton Middle School and the five-year capital maintenance plan that includes district-wide paving, video surveillance and window security films as well as a built in amount of $200,000 for a Pocopson modular classroom if needed based on possible enrollment increases.  Sanville noted that this is not currently anticipated.

All of these improvements to the schools are nothing that impacts millage since the money would be transferred from the General Fund to the Capital Fund as appropriated.

A last minute suggestion by board member Robert Sage to add $50,000 to the budget for teacher excellence initiatives was not received well by the teachers in the audience.  Sage proposed to enhance recruiting and teacher profiling to the colleges and universities, to have a world class screening process and to give out annual awards for excellence in teaching.  Hellrung voiced his support and gave examples of awards that the CCIU currently gives to its staff and retirees and suggested an annual banquet.  Sage proposed that a start of $50,000 in the budget would be good one and the board agreed that this was favorable and would discuss it more in June.

During the public comment before the meeting closed, three teachers cautioned the board that the proposed $50,000 could be perceived as offensive and possibly alienate teachers since they should all be celebrated as a unit and wages and benefits should attract teachers to the district.  One teacher was surprised that a line item expenditure could be added so easily in the budget in light of the teacher contract disputes based on proposed teacher salary increases.

Sage apologized, “It was not my intent to offend.”  He explained that he thought the teachers should design and actively nominate fellow teachers for excellence.  He also added that if it didn’t interest them then the money should be put back in the taxpayers’ pockets.  This issue will be addressed at next month’s meeting along with the final budget approval.

The preliminary proposed budget must be approved by the board 30 days prior to the final budget (expected to be approved on June 15) at the regular meeting in the District Office. The board still has over a month to tweak the final budget.  A copy of the proposed final budget will be posted for public inspection on May 26.  The board’s regular meeting will be held on Monday, May 17, at Pocopson Elementary School.  All board documents and meetings are posted on the UCF district’s website at www.ucfsd.org.

In other district news, Carolyn Daniels reminded the board that the Unionville High School Prom was this weekend on Saturday, May 16, and it was important to thank the after prom committee for a tremendous job well done.  She mentioned that it is a wonderful event that will help to keep the prom goers safe as an alternative to other after prom activities.  Other safety initiatives to the high school included the Cruisin’ Smart assembly in April on avoiding distractions and impairment when driving and the NOPE (Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education) assembly that will return in October 2015.

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