By Connor Lydon
Contributing Writer

The school board of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District held more discussions about the fate of the Charles F. Patton Middle School and several other important developments during the monthly meeting on March 23.

Despite not holding a vote with regard to the middle school, several citizens made their concerns known regarding costs and potential tax increases.  

The meeting was hosted by Chadds Ford Elementary to commemorate the school’s 100-year celebration. The meeting began with Chadds Ford Elementary Principal Danielle Clark addressing the board.  She highlighted the recent success of the school’s art show, as well as taking a moment to highlight members of their faculty. Clark gave a shout-out to Michael McGarvey, the school's technology teacher, who received the Delaware Valley Excellence in Teaching award.  Both McGarvey and Chadds Ford Elementary received $1,000 dollars to be used in the classroom and around the school, respectively.

Clark further highlighted the Environment Club’s greenhouse initiative in partnership with Master Gardeners of Chester County. Championed by fifth grade teacher Ms. Doyer, the program is said to foster an environment where children can learn about environmental stewardship as well as prioritizing purposeful play.  Another group of students were invited to speak highlighting the positive impact the program has had on its members and the student body.  

During the Student Representatives Report, the representatives highlighted upcoming events such as the Spring Fling Dance. They thanked the facilities staff for their support in making events run smoothly.  Furthermore, the board members were thanked by the student representatives for visiting the schools to encourage reading-based events. They concluded by promoting the P.T.O. Derby Night Out fundraiser taking place on April 17.

When the floor was opened to public comment, several local residents voiced their concerns to the board regarding the plans for the middle school.  Most of those who spoke held similar grievances, citing issues with transparency, a lack of clarity, potential planning and legal missteps, as well as the potential the project has to trigger an Act 1 referendum on a budget because it would exceed the state limit for a tax increase in a given year.

“Over a year ago, the district pledged to open and honest communications, transparency and frequent updates.  That hasn’t happened,” said Mike Ashmore, a resident of Chadds Ford.  “The only details we have now are the result of Right-to-Know Law requests…and they’ve raised more questions than they’ve answered.”

Others making public comment offered similar concerns and called for explanations and further transparency.

The originally projected figure for how much the school district would be able to spend on the middle school project was $120 million.  Since then, projections of costs have ballooned to around $167 million.  At that point, the project could prompt a large tax increase and trigger an Act 1 referendum in which the school district’s residents would have to vote whether or not to approve the tax increase.  As it stood at this point in the meeting, several residents warned that they would not only oppose the Act 1 referendum, they would actively organize others to vote no as well.

After public comments were made, the board began to address the public's concerns.  Before the meeting took place, a voting item that would have approved further design planning was changed to a discussion item and the vote was pushed back.  This gave some space for the board to talk through some of their options.  

“I think the pause is not just good for us [the board], it's also good for the community,” said board member Dr. Rashi Akki when speaking about the change.  “There is also an inflationary piece that goes along with the cost of the project and hence taking the cost of the project to $167 million is something that we need to get comfortable with, or think about and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Along with their conversation that occurred later in the meeting, the board members clarified that the scope of the project had not changed. The clarification was made with regard to the higher price point which was explained to be a result of inflation and additional site work.

Board member Jody Allen said that renovations to the middle school building would not offer a practical solution to the issues that the district is facing.

“Simply bringing all the systems up to date on the existing building will never meet the needs of our current students, and will specifically not meet the needs of our most vulnerable [special education] students,” Allen said. “That’s why we’re here talking about a new building as opposed to simply renovating the old building that already exists.” 

The board further highlighted that there would still be “off-ramps” in the development process, even if the next step were to be approved. 

Regarding voting items that the board handled during the meeting, the school board approved adding five new classes to the high school course catalog.  The new classes include engineering the guitar one and two, principles of A.I., as well as light, sound and set production one and two.  This update to the course catalog was made in hopes of giving students a wider range of chances for career development. 

The board’s new policy on A.I. was also passed, as was the replacement of water fountains to the tune of $33,350.  In addition, the installation of a native garden was approved for $9,930.  The proposal was made with Green Ridge Landscaping Inc. and will feature four trees, 38 shrubs, and 102 perennials that are native to the region.  A large part of the motivation for the garden was to honor the native Lenape people—the school campus rests on their ancestral land.  The hope is that the native garden will honor their living legacy and create an environment for students to learn about native plants.