Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 152, No. 21
INSIDE School vandalism
issue dominates U-CF School Board meeting By John Chambless Staff Writer
West Chester & Chadds Ford Life Magazine
Strawberry Festival Guide
An Oxford woman writes about her childhood behind the Berlin Wall...1B
Three named Distinguished ...9A
OAHS Alumni
INDEX
There was plenty of work to be done at the May 21 meeting of the UnionvilleChadds Ford School Board at Poscopson Elementary School, but most of the evening was overshadowed by reports of vandalism at Unionville High School, and the administration’s suspension of one student in particular. During public comment at the beginning of the meeting, a parent addressed the board, saying, “There has been vandalism going on, and the administration’s decision was to lock the bathrooms today. That speaks of a bigger discipline problem. There was an attempt to open a door, and the latch was slightly damaged. The student was suspended for vandalism. I bring this up because before we rush to judgment, we need to get all the facts. I feel this was grossly overdone.” Another parent also addressed the issue, saying,
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
More than 600 competitors braved a rainstorm to be a part of the 29th Annual Kennett Run on May 19.
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer The rain that fell on Kennett Square during the morning of May 19 was unrelenting and at times, pelting, but no one seemed to inform the 600 competitors at the 29th
annual Kennett Run that rain generally dampens the spirit. It didn’t. Instead, much like children at a mud puddle, runners emerged from protective tents at Anson B. Nixon Park, lined up at the start of the 5K and 10K, and
proceeded to frolic along a course that scissored its way through the park and along State Street in downtown Kennett Square, and back again. For Christopher Daney, the president of Kennett Run Charities, there was Continued on Page 2A
‘It’s happening here’
Continued on Page 3A
Board adopts budget with no tax increase By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The Oxford School Board
Obituaries...................2B the 2018-2019 school year
on May 15. No tax increase
Classifieds..................5B will be necessary to balCalendar of Events.....6B ance the spending plan,
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“We had a very disappointing day today at school. We watched as a phenomenal student had to miss his playoff game. This is a dream he’s had for four years. Last week, the bathrooms were closed at the high school – more bathrooms than is actually legal, by the way. There were two left open for all the students in the school. They had to sign in and sign out. There were many complaints at the school. One student attempted to enter the bathroom and had trouble with the door handle. “What are we saying to students about the respect we have for them?” she added. “It’s shameful. We have a problem with respect from the administration for the students and their voices. I’m sure administrators were very upset about the vandalism, but this student was not your vandal. Let’s show some respect for our kids, and let’s start at the top. The students are owned an apology, and this student’s family
Despite rain, Kennett Run draws 600 competitors
Local drug epidemic likely Oxford School to get worse, DA Hogan tells Chamber audience
Police Blotter..............4A unanimously adopted a Opinion........................7A $69.2 million budget for
© 2007 The Chester County Press
60 Cents
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
district officials said. The year-to-year expenditures are increasing by about $727,227, or 1.06 percent. Some line items in the budget are increasing by more than that—the statemandated PSERS costs are one example—but Oxford is also seeing a decrease in
other expenditures to balance the increases out. Oxford also saw a year-to-year increase in revenues of $103,000 from local sources for the current year. With no tax increase necessary, the millage rate will remain at 31.1484 mills for the 2018-2019 fiscal year. With the current school year rapidly coming to a close, Oxford Area School District officials recognized the accomplishments of several students and groups of students during the meeting. Continued on Page 3A
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan may have served as the keynote speaker at the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce’s 4th Annual Inspirational Breakfast on May 17, but his address had far more to do with desperation than inspiration. Before about 100 local leaders from business, government and law enforcement, Hogan delivered “To Live and Die in Chester County,” a 40-minute review of how the current opioid crisis in the community began, and how it has escalated to the point where its statistics and numbers “will blow your mind – things that you had no idea were in the background of this opioid epidemic,” Hogan said.
The numbers Hogan shared are horrific: • Over the last 20 years, the U.S. has lost 500,000 people to drug overdoses. • 91 people die every day from prescription opioid overdoses. • Pennsylvania currently ranks fourth-highest of 50 states in the rate of drug overdoses, surpassed only by Ohio, West Virginia and Florida. • In 2016, 97 Chester County residents died from drug overdoses, 250 died in Montgomery County and Philadelphia had 900 drug overdose deaths. • In the last three years, drug overdoses have become the number-one cause of death in the U.S., and that the number of drug-related deaths in Chester County is expected to rise over the next three to five years.
“I can tell you that already for 2017, [Chester County] was at 144 [drug overdose deaths], and Philadelphia is up to around 1,300,” he said. “These numbers are going up for all of us. So brace yourselves. “This problem is mainly happening in the white, middle-to-upper-middle class communities. Look around this room now. It is not happening in North and West Philadelphia, where kids are overdosing. It’s happening here, to your neighbors.” Hogan said that public outrage about the most recent drug epidemic – seen mainly in the abuse of heroin and prescription drugs like oxycodone – has only begun to gain traction in the last year or so. “If the same number of people were dying in a war Continued on Page 6A
Kennett Square to celebrate veterans with ‘patriotic hometown parade’ By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer Kennett Square’s Memorial Day Parade is always a wonderful celebration of veterans, but Bill Taylor, the chairperson of the parade committee, promises that this year’s event on Memorial Day, May 28, could be the best one yet. “It’s going to be a big parade,” Taylor said. “We have more than 100 units signed up already. A unit could be 150 scouts, it could be 25 military vehicles, or it could be one politician.” Overall, the two-hour parade will feature approximately 1,500 participants, making it one of the largest Memorial Day showcases in the entire region. “This parade has something for everybody,” Taylor said. “We have a tremendous
variety of entries―there’s something for all ages. It’s a patriotic hometown parade.” Military veterans are kept front and center throughout the parade, starting with this year’s grand marshals, Harry F. Brown, Jr. and Gerald J. Breeden. “We will have a lot of military units in the parade,” Taylor said, outlining just some of the participants who will be representing military service members from all eras in the nation’s history. A Marine color guard unit will be prominently featured as will the Chester County chapter of the Vietnam Veterans of America. There will be high school Junior ROTC units, a Civil Air Squadron, the William E. Taylor U.S. Naval Cadets, Civil War and Revolutionary War reenactor units, fife and drum
Courtesy photo
Gerald J. Breeden
Courtesy photo
Harry F. Brown, Jr.
corps, and more. Many marching in color guards munity, and there will be local veterans will be riding and other military units. many civilian units feain antique convertibles and The parade is also a tured as well―the Joseph Continued on Page 8A antique military vehicles, or celebration of the com-