The Kennett School Board approved a waiver-of-rights and deed of easement that will allow Kennett Township to access and utilize a small portion of the Legacy Fields property as part of a sidewalk expansion project that the township is undertaking.

Kennett Consolidated School District (KCSD) business administrator Mark Tracy explained that the drainage easement will be located at the northeast corner of Legacy Fields, just beyond the enclosed synthetic playing surfaces that are used by some of the school district's sports teams. The work on the project will not interfere with the district's use of Legacy Fields.

Tracy noted that the Legacy Fields property already has three easements on it, and said that the school district will not receive compensation for the waiver-of-rights or the deed of easement. However, the district will be reimbursed for the legal and engineering services, up to $4,000, as part of the agreement.

School board member Dominic Perigo, Jr. said that there should be a discussion between KCSD and the township about making sure that a portion of the sidewalk dips down to street level so that the district can bring equipment in through one of the gates.

Following a year-long evaluation process of various student transportation software systems, the district is entering a licensing agreement with Transfinder for the use of its RouterfinderPro, a transportation management system.

“A lot of school districts in Chester County already use Transfinder,” Tracy explained.

The agreement requires the district to pay $38,895 total over three years, with an annual maintenance thereafter of $5,200. The first year's cost includes a licensing fee, training, custom-mapping for data integration, and the conversion of existing routes.

According to district officials, the new system offers better technology and superior functionality over the existing software that the district uses, including satellite imagery services, mobile applications, and data integration with the district's Student Information System.

During his report to the school board, superintendent Dr. Barry Tomasetti said that the school district has 269 students enrolled in summer school programs. The goal, the superintendent said, is to try to have a program that benefits every student during the summer so that they don't lose ground during the summer.

“We're getting more and more students in our summer school,” Tomasetti said.

In his report about the facilities, Perigo said that the district is currently working on 22 different facilities projects over the summer, including a roof replacement at the high school and new modular classrooms being added at Greenwood Elementary. Perigo said that the work is progressing nicely, and everything should be completed on schedule.

The school board approved the School Counseling Chapter 339 Plan, which is an all-encompassing plan that establishes guidance services for students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The plan also includes procedures to provide guidance services to area vocational technical schools. The Pennsylvania School Code requires districts to have this plan.

The school board tabled making a decision on a list of fees for school events during the 2016-2017 school year. Board member Rudy Alfonso suggested changing the fee schedule so that military personnel can attend events for free by showing their military identification. At the high school, tickets to the musical will cost $10 for adults and $6 for students. Tickets to athletic events will be $5 for adults and $3 for students. Tickets to the dances at the high school will be $5 in advance and $7 at the door. At the middle school, tickets to the dances will be $4. The musical at the middle school will cost $6 for adults and $4 for students.

“There are no changes for this year,” said Tomasetti.

The school board authorized district personnel to pay bills that are due and to hire staff for positions that are budgeted over the course of the next two months because there is no regular school board meeting scheduled for August. The bills will be reviewed by the treasurer and presented to the board at the September meeting, along with a listing of the staff members that were hired in the interim.

The next meeting of the school board will take place on Monday, Sept. 12.