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Chester County Press

U-CF School Board ready to OK final budget

06/13/2017 01:59PM ● By J. Chambless

By John Chambless
Staff Writer

In their last work session of the school year, the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board approved a long list of contracts, appointments and salaries at their June 12 meeting. Next week, they put final approval on the biggest ticket of the year, the general fund budget.

The board will vote on June 19 to approve a budget with revenues of $84,918,161 and expenditures of $84,932,572. The real estate tax will be 28.41 mills per dollar (or $2.841 per $100 of assessment) on the assessed value of taxable real property in Chester County, and 23.63 mills per dollar (or $2.363 per $100 of assessment) on property in Delaware County.

The long-simmering issue of the roof of the Unionville High School auditorium is finally moving toward resolution, and the board approved an agreement with a company called One Beacon to install sound-deadening roofing because the auditorium is very noisy during heavy rain. The original architects of the project, MM Architects, will be responsible for paying the estimated $239,000 repair cost. The school district will not pay anything under the agreement.

The board heard about a new ropes course for Unionville's ninth-grade physical education classes that, if approved, will be installed by Phoenix Experiential Designs for a cost of $10,600. A vote will be taken on June 19.

The board also discussed a proposal to have ChescoNET provide fiber-optic connections from all the district's elementary schools to the main data center at Unionville High School. The cost would be $50,400 per year for five years, and $36,540 after five years.

The board discussed a trip to Quebec City that is proposed for middle school French students in January 2018, and is slated to approve new textbooks for social studies classes at the high school next week.
The lengthy list of contract approvals and personnel items for next year included salary approvals for administration, professional and support staff for 2017-18. That list will be posted on the district's website (www.ucfsd.org) on June 16. There was a lengthy discussion of a proposal to increase compensation for substitute teachers. Principals from several schools told the board that they are having difficulty filling all substitute requests, and that the school district's compensation rate has not kept up with surrounding districts.

The board's final meeting will be held June 19 at the District Office public meeting room (740 Unionville Rd., Kennett Square). The public is invited to attend. The meetings will resume in August.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email [email protected].