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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life magazine
Goats chow down so property owners can relax...1B
Chester CountyPRESS
Volume 151, No. 43
Ed Farina, Brian Gaerity, Patrick Walker, and Bill Wood are running for re-election on a record of making investments in technology, curriculum development, music, the arts, athletics, and various other initiatives that boost academic achievement By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The four incumbent Avon Grove School Board members who are up for re-election on Tuesday, Nov. 7―Ed Farina, Brian Gaerity, Patrick Walker and Bill Wood―point to investments in technology and STEM education, increased support for music, arts, and athletic programs, and the expansion to full-day kindergarten as just a few ways that students are seeing real benefits from a reasoned reinvestment in education that has been made while they’ve been on the board. They point to a 16-month effort to develop a comprehensive plan to address the district’s long-term facilities needs. They point to the graduating seniors in the Class of 2017 who earned, collectively, $4.5 million in scholarships, and know that the school district’s administrators and teachers had an important part to play in preparing the students for the future. They point to all these examples of progress as reasons why they should be re-elected so that the
Opinion.......................6A Calendar of Events......2B Obituaries...................4B
Patrick Walker
Ed Farina
Brian Gaerity
Bill Wood
progress can continue. In Region I, voters will decide two seats on the board as Gaerity and Walker are being challenged by John Auerbach Continued on Page 2A
Lynn Weber
Avon Grove School Board Director Position Educational Background I graduated from West Chester University in 1983 with a Bachelor’s degree and received my CPA license in 2000. I have 16 years of experience in public accounting with 14 years at same firm. I also have 4 years of experience in private accounting. I am currently on the board of a nonprofit corporation. This is a volunteer position. I was also on my parish finance council for several years. What are your key attributes that qualify you for a position as a school board member? I am fiscally conservative. I believe in budgeting and adhering to the budget while planning for the future. I believe my knowledge and experience as a CPA will enable me to be a board member that can put the school finances on a stronger footing. I believe in transparency – an item that needs to be improved with the current administration and school board. I have strong family values. I believe that the family unit is the foundation that children should learn from and rely on. I strive to lead by example.
Lynn Weber
John Auerbach
Rick Dumont
Jeff Casey
What would be your top two priorities as a member of the school board? I want to represent the interests of the entire community that elected me. This includes the students of the AGSD as well as the senior citizens that live in the district. I want to be part of a school board that will work to ensure that students of AGSD will receive an excellent education that will result in them becoming responsible, successful individuals after they leave AGSD. I want to restore the real estate discount plan for
been a rural outpost of third-, fourth- and often fifth-generation families into a tract-by-tract complex of sprawling developments that drew thousands of newcomers who wanted their small slice of paradise. That year, Allaband became a member of the township’s Planning Commission, a job he held until 2003, when he was elected as to the township’s Board of Supervisors, winning as a write-in on both the Republican and Democratic ballots, where he served from 2004 until
2009. During his first term, Allaband helped rewrite the township’s Comprehensive Plan, which was released in 2005. “When I was on the Planning Commission, the township was issuing a certificate of occupancy every day, so we were under the pressures of significant development,” Allaband said. “The developers were coming in and taking advantage of the township, which was in a position of reacting instead of being
seniors who volunteer for hours spent in the schools and library. This will allow for more interaction between the younger and older generations. There is much to be learned from all age groups. I want to restore, maintain and update the school facilities. The current school board has allowed the school buildings, especially the high school, to deteriorate. The roof in the high school has been leaking for many years. The bathrooms are in dire need of repair and replacement. These Continued on Page 3A
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East Marlborough’s Halloween joke? By Uncle Irvin
was welcome, but unexpected. “About a third of this was due to health care claims, and that’s not something you could predict in a budget cycle,” he said. “There’s been some concern at other school districts about budgeting too conservatively. This is not an item that was budgeted conservatively. Health claims are going to go up and down.” The board approved the purchase of a replacement pickup truck for the
Apparently, East Marlborough Township has more police cars than police officers and they are playing Halloween tricks with their extra cars, along with scarecrow cops. East Marlborough Police have been parking these old cars, with a dummy behind the wheel, in areas of the township where crimes may likely be committed and on roads where motorists may be speeding. My wife and I spotted a police car and dummy at the wheel on the side of School House Road recently. Seriously, as funny as this method sounds, it’s being used all over the United States to deter crime and speeding at little or no cost to taxpayers. We read of widespread use of these old police cars,
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Courtesy photo
New Garden Township Supervisor Stephen Allaband is looking to serve his third term on the township board, in an election that will take place on Nov. 7.
U-CF School Board mulls how to invest surplus By John Chambless Staff Writer It’s a good problem to
Classifieds..................6B have, but the Unionville-
© 2007 The Chester County Press
60 Cents
Allaband looks to serve third term as New Garden supervisor
Two-term New Garden Township Supervisor Stephen Allaband, who is challenging opponent Mark Tully for a seat on the board that will be decided on Nov. 7, first became involved in township politics in 1999, when it was a different place. Acre by precious acre, the community was being gobbled up by real estate Big plays propel Bishop developers, who helped Shanahan to a win over transform what had once
INDEX
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Four school board ‘Avon Grove still provides the candidates look to unseat best educational incumbents in Avon Grove John Auerbach, Jeff Casey, Rick Dumont, and Lynn outcomes, per dollar, Weber are united in their opposition to the facilities plan in Chester County’ recommended by the Facilities Input Group
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Oxford...9A
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Chadds Ford School Board is discussing how to properly place an unexpected budget surplus of more than $2 million. At their meeting on Oct. 23 at Unionville Elementary School, the board heard an outline of possible ways to use the $2,196,090 that arose chiefly due to a reduction in healthcare
claims of $925,000, as well as a special education control point of $945,000. Last week, the board discussed three options, but the leading one is transferring the whole surplus over to the capital projects budget. Transferring the full amount gives the district the most flexibility. The board is considering its options, and the issue will be voted on in November. Board member Gregg Lindner said, “This is an unusual thing to hap-
pen in the years I’ve been on the board.” He said he welcomed the additional revenue, but asked if the board could see a mid-year budget statement so they could determine which areas had shortfalls or surpluses before the money is moved. District superintendent John Sanville said that an up-to-the-minute statement would be provided to the board before next month’s vote. Board member Robert Sage said that the money