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Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 151, No. 17
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Board to township: No contracted police, for now By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer The London Grove Board of Supervisors told a town hall audience at the Fred Engle Middle School on April 20 that the township would not pursue the con-
cept of contracting with the newly formed Southern Chester County Regional Police Department, for the immediate future. As a result, township residents will continue to receive police coverage exclusively from the State
INSIDE
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
An audience gathered at a London Grove Township town hall meeting on April 20 to discuss on-street parking and policing issues with township supervisors.
Police in nearby Avondale. Pointing to the results of a recent study, supervisor Mike Pickel told the audience, “London Grove Township does not need additional police coverage, nor will we be moving forward with joining the regional police force. We’re not entertaining any talks about contracting with them for 40 hours [of coverage] per week.� However, Pickel told the audience that the study recommended that beginning in 2018, the township should convene meetings with its board chairman and township manager, along with a Pa. State Police commanding officer, as a means of addressing the policing needs of the community. Continued on Page 2A
Learning the Sweet Science
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Nine-year-old Makayla Bishop is a student at the Straight 2-3 Boxing Club in Oxford. For a complete story, see Page 1B.
Oxford School Board U-CF School Board approves a $68.5 approves delayed school million proposed start time for 2018-2019 year final budget
Landenberg Life magazine
By John Chambless Staff Writer
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer At its meeting on April 18, the Oxford School Board unanimously approved a proposed final budget of Kennett softball team off $68,541,635 for 2017-2018. Overall, the budget to a strong start...9A includes an increase of $2,878,654 in spending over the current fiscal year. That’s a 4.38 percent increase in spending. The single largest item impacting Oxford’s budget is the state-mandated contribution to the Public School Employees Retirement System (PSERS), which is increasing by more than $1.1 million, an increase of approximately 8 percent. The Oxford home champions...1B
60 Cents
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Since the school district adopted a preliminary budget earlier this year, district officials have decided that it’s necessary to add one district staff position and two elementary school positions. School board member Joseph Tighe, who serves on the district’s Finance Committee, said that a onepercent tax increase would likely be necessary to balance the budget, although work continues on the spending plan. A millage rate hike of one-percent would increase the millage rate from 30.84 mills to 31.1484 mills. If the school board does Continued on Page 3A
It took three years of study, but the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District is now the first in Pennsylvania to adopt a later school start time, based on extensive research that shows adolescents learn better when they are not required to begin classes before 8 a.m. At the school board’s April 24 meeting at Hillendale Elementary School, board member Carolyn Daniels made a motion to approve a plan to start and end high school and middle schools 25 minutes later, and to start and end the elementary schools 15 minutes later. Under the new schedule, middle school and
high school will start at 8 a.m. and last until 2:43 p.m. (the current schedule is 7:35 a.m. to 2:18 p.m.). Elementary schools will start at 9:10 a.m. and last until 3:40 p.m. (the current schedule is 8:55 a.m. to 3:25 p.m.). Board member Jeff Hellrung traced the history of the proposal. “Since 2014 there has been an increasing chorus of pleas from our doctors and sleep experts that our teens start their school days no later than 8:30 a.m.,� Hellrung said. “They all have identified early school start times as a major contributor to a public health crisis caused by widespread adolescent sleep deprivation. Hundreds of schools
New walking trails open in Chadds Ford, tracing the Wyeth family’s footsteps
in most states across our country have already heeded this expert advice and delayed school start times to promote student health. A group of Unionville High School students studied this proposal and came to our board president three years ago, recommending later start times for their school. “The proposal that we’ll vote on tonight is a result of excellent community work,� Hellrung continued. “It’s not ideal. It delays our high school and middle school start times by 25 minutes. Our committee thought that an 8:30 start would be so disruptive to so many constituencies that our community Continued on Page 3A
Lyme disease: One and done, or long term?
By John Chambless Staff Writer
By Uncle Irvin
Nature comes to the Arts Alliance...3B
INDEX Opinion........................7A Obituaries..................10A Calendar of Events.....2B Classifieds..................4B Š 2007 The Chester County Press
Taking another big step in preserving the legacy of the Wyeth family in Chadds Ford, the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend with the opening of new walking trails on April 30. A 1.5-mile loop winds through Potts Meadow, which the organization was created to preserve in 1967, over two bridges that span a small creek. An intersecting trail takes hikers to the Andrew Wyeth Studio and the N.C. Wyeth House and Studio, allowing visitors to Continued on Page 8A
(The writer looked closer at this most common vector-borne illness in the U.S. after a member of his family was recently stricken.)
Photo by John Chambless
Two new foot bridges span a small creek that runs through Chadds Ford.
Lyme disease has both early and late manifestations, and this dichotomy has precipitated a massive split in the health care community in the United States, causing the vector to break out from New England and the Middle Atlantic states westward and southward on a rapid migration. Continued on Page 8A
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Jennersville.com