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Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
INSIDE
Kennett Square Life magazine
Volume 153, No. 25
Wednesday, June 19, 2019
Avon Grove School District finalizes budget
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Poignant speeches highlight Avon Grove commencement
The $98.1 million spending plan includes a 3-percent tax increase By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The Avon Grove School Board approved, by a 5-3 vote, a $98.1 million spending plan for 20192020 during a special meeting on June 10. There is a 3-percent tax increase to balance the budget. Overall, spending is increasing by $1,231,051, or about 1.27 percent, compared to the current fiscal year’s budget. The 2019-2020 budget totals $98,134,333. The projected expenditures for the 2019-2020 school year have actually declined by almost $500,000 since the school board adopted a proposed final budget two months ago. The drop in projected expenditures can be attributed to a series of position re-allocations and
retirements. The school district is phasing in the additional financing that will be needed for the construction of a new high school. Groundbreaking on the new school is expected to take place in 2020. The millage rate is increasing from 30.69 mills to 31.61 mills. For the average taxpayer in the school district, there will be an increase of $146.46 in the tax bill. Additionally, the school district is planning to utilize about $6.1 million of its fund balance to balance the 2019-2020 budget. The school board was predictably divided on the budget—the same thing happened last year at this time when the board was finalizing the spending plan for 2018-2019. Continued on Page 2A
Photos by Richard L. Gaw
Class Salutatorian Brendan Duff delivers his commencement address, “On Courage.”
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer For any 18-year-old who is chosen to deliver a commencement speech at his or her high school graduation, it is often a daunting task, a real knee-knocker of a moment in which to encapsulate four years into one coherent message. Now, try doing that in
front of a crowd of 5,000 at a basketball arena. That was just what Cassidy Miao, Brendan Duff, Michelle Pablo-Ortiz, Sahan Sundar and Tyler Curtis did, as their addresses at the Bob Carpenter Center on June 11 served as the highlight of commencement exercises for the 2019 graduates of Avon Grove High School.
The event, held in front of a packed house of family and friends, saw 438 graduates receive their diplomas, presented to them by Superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese, School Board President Tracy Lisi, School Board Vice President Bill Wood and Senior Assistant Principal Dr. Natalie Ortega-Moran. Continued on Page 9A
Kennett School Board adopts $88.2 million budget for 2019-2020 The school board also approves a five-year contract with assistant superintendent Dr. Michael Barber and names two more people as ‘Kennett legends’ By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
The Kennett School Board finalized a budget for 20192020, approved a contract extension for a top administrator, and named two more people as “Kennett legends” during a busy meeting on Oxford athletes sign June 10. The school board unanito play collegiate mously adopted an $88.2 sports...10A million final budget for the 2019-2020 school year. District officials have been
working—and reworking— the projected expenditures and revenues for the next fiscal year since late in 2018, and the work resulted in a smaller-than-projected tax increase to balance the spending plan. Initially, the projected budget for the next fiscal year was going to require a tax increase of about 2.27 percent, but that was reduced to about 2.07 percent by April when the school board approved a
proposed final budget. The tax increase was reduced even further by the time the final budget was adopted. Mark Tracy, the district’s business administrator, said that the final tax increase comes in at about 1.65 percent. The school board also unanimously set the millage rate at 30.9497 mills for the next fiscal year. For the average taxpayer in the school district, a 1.65 percent tax hike would
The land of hope and dreams Thousands of people turn out with treasures in hand as ‘Antiques Roadshow’ comes to Winterthur By John Chambless Staff Writer Antiques by the mile in Chadds Ford...1B
INDEX Opinion.......................7A Obituaries...................2B Calendar of Events.....4B Classifieds.................8B
© 2007 The Chester County Press
Whether they were wheeling a huge blanket box or carrying a tiny piece of their grandmother’s jewelry, the 3,000 or so people who came through Winterthur on June 18 had one thing in common. They were hoping they had a treasure. The “Antiques Roadshow” phenomenon, now in its 23rd season, came to Delaware for the first time on Tuesday, and the event was just what fans have come to expect since the show debuted in 1996. There were some 70 appraisers under tents outside and inside, greeting visitors who brought heirlooms and curiosities, fine antiques and yard-sale junk,
amount to an increase of slightly more than $90 in the tax bill. School board president Joseph Meola thanked the school board members and district officials for their work during the budgeting process. In other business at the June 10 meeting, the school board approved a five-year employment agreement with assistant superintendent Dr. Michael Barber. The employment agreement
Photo by John Chambless
in a process that has been repeated in cities across America. The show is preparing its 500th episode to air this fall, and the formula remains the same – everyone loves a good treasure
hunt, and you never know what will arrive at the appraisal booths. The crew arrived on Sunday with the equipment and tents, Monday was Continued on Page 2A
Continued on Page 3A
Penn Township looks to install temporary entrance, parking lot for new park By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Staff Writer
Longtime appraiser Lark E. Mason, Jr., meets guests at an ‘Antiques Roadshow’ taping at Winterthur on June 18.
is effective beginning July 1, 2020 and runs through June 30, 2025. The new contract with Barber ensures that the school district will continue to have consistency and continuity at the top—superintendent Dr. Barry Tomasetti is retiring in January of 2020, and the search for the district’s next superintendent is already underway. After the school board approved the employment
The Penn Township Board of Supervisors meeting on June 5 moved quickly because the supervisors only had a short agenda. About a dozen residents from the Roseview subdivision were on hand to ask for the township’s help in contacting PennDOT to make improvements at the intersection of Jenners Pond Road and Route 796. Stormwater has been ponding at the intersection and flowing into the development in large amounts. The residents’ concern is that, in a subdivision that is already having issues with the stormwater management, the increase in water
will overwhelm the system. The board of supervisors agreed to help with the situation. They also agreed to take a look at stormwater on Kelton Road, where there are complaints about increased run-off onto properties since the township made changes to the road edges by adding stone. The township takes stormwater management seriously—to the point that storm drains are painted to bring attention to the need to keep the water system clean. This year, two designs were selected for painting at storm drains. One, submitted by the Avon Grove Intermediate School Art Club, shows a grazing Continued on Page 3A