Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 151, No. 4
INSIDE
2017 Health & Medical Guide
U-CF approves salary increase for district superintendent By John Chambless Staff Writer
During a marathon meeting on Jan. 23, the UnionvilleChadds Ford School Board voted unanimously to give district superintendent John Sanville a substantial raise and a new five-year contract, sparking some concern from several residents. Public comment and interviews of four candidates to fill a school board vacancy took up two and a half hours. During comment, former school board member Holly Manzone told the board, “Yesterday, we saw a sudden decision to give the superinKennett Old Timers Baseball welcomes new tendent a 20 percent increase in his pay. This evening, you members....8A plan to give him a $255,000 contract. I don’t get that at all. What about your fiduciary duty? Why would you do that? I believe a salary of $255,000 a year is completely out of line, given that he makes $214,000 now. There’s a huge increase. Other districts, with the
exception of I believe it’s Downingtown, pay considerably less. Downingtown has three times the number of students that we have here. What’s going to happen the next time the teachers have a contract come up? Are they going to get a 20 percent increase? Are they going to get a five-year contact? You really need to think about the consequences of your actions.” Resident Tom Drake of East Marlborough Township commented that, “Dr. Sanville’s salary is $214,000 and he’s requesting a raise. In all due respect, where is this justifiable? In the community, we’re looking for 1 to 5 percent annual increases. But 20 percent? That’s pretty high. At what point is this salary request pure greed?” Amy Baram of Pocopson Township told the board, “I think John is a fabulous leader. We’ve had great conversations. I’ve seen him work hard, work long hours, Continued on Page 6A
At 90, still fighting for justice
Dorothea Murray of Lincoln University was one of the marchers in Washington, D.C. last weekend
Photo by Mark Ungemach
Dorothea Murray, 90, of Lincoln University, second from right, attended the Women’s March in Washington with her daughter and nieces.
By John Chambless Staff Writer Dorothea Murray has lived through 90 years of sometimes turbulent American history, but few things have stirred her to action like the inauguration of Donald Trump. On Jan. 21, Murray was one of perhaps 500,000 people who went to Washington, D.C., with
Collegiality, confidence and collaboration Avon Grove suffers tough loss....11A
INDEX Opinion........................7A Obituaries....................9A Calendar of Events......2B
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the intention of marching against Trump’s policies. She found a gridlock of women, men and children who came to make their voices heard. While there was no room to actually march, Murray feels better having been part of the historic event. Sitting in the living room of her home near the Lincoln University campus on Monday morning,
Murray traced the arc of her longtime involvement with politics and social justice. She said that her parents weren’t overtly political, but she vividly remembers her mother coming home, closing the front door behind her and crying because “our President,” Franklin Roosevelt, had passed away. “We were just devastated, and we all Continued on Page 3A
Narrowly defeated in 2014
New board leads Kennett New Garden to Library into the future include library tax
referendum on fall ballot, again
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer On Nov. 1, 2016, the Library Director Search Committee for the Kennett Library, headed by board member Dr. Brenda Williams Mercomes, began to review the qualifications of 20 candidates in an effort to find the right person to replace former director Donna Murray, who had resigned in order to become the director of the Ridley Township Public Library. From the stack of resumes, the committee conducted interviews with eight finalists, both on Skype and in person. In December, after a strong recommendation by the committee, the Kennett Library Board of Trustees unanimously chose 30-year-old Megan Walters as the library’s new director.
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
New Kennett Library Director Megan Walters, with library board director Thomas Swett, and board members Jeff Yetter and Dr. Brenda Williams Mercomes.
Walters’ CV was already weighted heavily in experience: She was managing a branch of the Denver Public Library, and before that, served as the interim director of the Cooper Memorial Library in Opelika, Ala. Yet, it was during her first visit to the library, as a candidate, where the intangibles that Walters carries with her
shone immediately. She connected with the young staff through an infectious enthusiasm; she gravitated to their ideas, as if to imply that the future of libraries rested on their vision and courage to redefine the entire definition of what a library is now, and what it should be in the future. In a way, the start of Continued on Page 3A
Oxford School Board votes to keep tax increase below Act 1 Index limit By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Taxes in the Oxford Area School District will not increase by more than the Act 1 Index limit of 3.5 percent this year after a vote by the Oxford School Board on Jan. 17. The Oxford School Board unanimously approved a resolution to stay within the Act 1 Index for the 20172018 school year. The Act 1 Index is calculated by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and establishes the maximum school-tax increase that is allowable without approval by resi-
dents in a referendum. By adopting this opt-out resolution, Oxford will not have to speed up the budgetary process to allow for a referendum on the tax increase in the Primary Election. School districts that exceed the Act 1 Index limit must either secure approval for the tax increase through a referendum or be granted referendum exceptions as a result of the Taxpayer Relief Act that was approved by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 2006. Board member Howard Robinson pointed out that the approval of the resolution only sets 3.5 percent as
This November, for the second time in three years, New Garden Township’s election ballot will include a library tax referendum for the Kennett Library. Resolution #766 was approved by a vote of 4-0 by the township’s board of supervisors at its Jan. 17 meeting. The referendum will read as follows: “Do you favor increasing New Garden Township’s real estate property tax by 0.100 mills, the revenue from such increase to be used exclusively to fund the operation of the Kennett Library?” “I just can’t tell you how delighted we are for
this opportunity to gain more support for our local library,” said Jim DeLuzio, the New Garden Township representative on the Kennett Library board. “Kennett Library has been a wonderful service to the community for a tremendous amount of time, and we’re looking forward to continuing that.” DeLuzio told the board that if the referendum is passed, it would add for a home valued at $175,000 an additional $17.50 in taxes, that would be directed toward the library. “If someone wanted to join the Hockessin Library, there is a fee of $40. This support of the Kennett Library puts them ahead Continued on Page 4A
Democrats abandon state Constitution
the maximum amount of a tax increase, and it does not set the tax increase at 3.5 percent. Robinson said that he is hopeful that the actual tax increase that is needed to balance the budget will be less than 3.5 percent. Board member Joseph Tighe, who serves on the district’s Finance and Budget Committee, lauded the administrators and teachers in the district for their work to limit expenditures. He explained that district officials originally anticipated needing to dip into the fund reserve to cover a significant rev-
Since Democrat Kathy Cozzone was elected minority County Commissioner years ago, replacing now-State Sen. Andrew Dinniman, the Chester County Democrats, through Commissioner Cozzone, have decided to renounce responsibility as minority Party Commissioner. Cozzone has decided that she supersedes the state Constitution and has abandoned her role to disagree with her two GOP Commissioners. So all major decisions are now handed down as unanimous, including the 5 percent millage increase for 2017. Dinniman, who was minority County Commissioner for many terms and now is a state Senator, did no such thing as abrogate his vote of dissent, challenged his GOP colleagues on many occasions, and did not vote with the GOP majority many, many times -- always stating his reasons for dissent.
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By Uncle Irvin