Chester County Press 03-01-17 Edition

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Chester CountyPRESS

www.chestercounty.com

Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas

Volume 151, No. 9

INSIDE

Initial designs for new Police recommend police facility unveiled solutions for speed, traffic on Newark Road

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer For the first time, those who attended the New Garden Township Board of Supervisors meeting on Feb. 21 got to see the first sketches of a dream in the making. Sean Goodrick and Jason Author discusses escapMcGuire of the Wilmingtoning the over-parenting based architectural design trap...4A firm Tevebaugh Associates gave a presentation that essentially cracked open the doors to the planned facility on Route 41 that will eventually serve as the headquarters of the newly formed Southern Chester County Regional Police Department. Using preliminary floor plans – designed from scratch through consultation with Police Chief Beer draws a crowd to Kennett Square...1B

60 Cents

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Jason McGuire of the architectural design firm Tevebaugh Associates gave a presentation at New Garden Township on Feb. 21 that displayed initial designs for the new police facility that will become the headquarters of the newly formed Southern Chester County Regional Police Department.

Gerald Simpson and through what will become Deputy Chief Michael King an 11,716-square-foot, sin– Goodrick and McGuire gle-story, L-shaped facility Continued on Page 2A walked the audience

Patton Middle School principal promoted to district position

On Feb. 21, Gary Liska stood before the New Garden Board of Supervisors and gave them a brief summary of his professional career, which has required him to move several times. He told them that of all of these places, the home where he lives with his family now – on the 300 block of Newark Road in the township – by far the most dangerous of all of them. “I say that with certainty,” he said. Liska had come to the board meeting to speak on behalf of his neighbors,

many of whom have complained that Newark Road is no longer a country road that begins in Hockessin and ends just south of Coatesville. It has become a speedway of cars and trucks – an Autobahn for New Garden Township. Last year, Liska took his complaint to Gerald Simpson, chief of police for the new Southern Chester County Regional Police Department, who put together a study in order to provide recommendations on how Newark Road can be improved. Sgt. Joseph Greenwalt, who headed the study, told the supervisors that his Continued on Page 2A

Tapping into tasting

Timothy Hoffman will serve out his term until the end of the school year By John Chambless Staff Writer Looking at the evolution of American art...1B

INDEX Opinion........................7A Police Blotter...............8A Calendar of Events.....2B Obituaries....................3B

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Patton Middle School principal Timothy Hoffman has been named the new District Director of Curriculum and Instruction in the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, and the school board approved his hiring at their Feb. 27 meeting. Hoffman will serve out his year at the middle school while transitioning to his new position, which pays $155,000 per year. The hiring process for a new principal to replace him will begin soon. District superintendent John Sanville said there were more than 50 applicants for the Curriculum Director position, from inside and

outside the school district. “I can tell you that on every step along the way, Tim was the leader,” Sanville said. “After a rigorous process that had four interviews, we are happy to have Tim on board. There’s a lot of folks at the middle school who are sad and sorry to see him go, but we are thrilled that we still have him here in the district.” Board member Jeff Hellrung noted that with recent staffing shifts in the district, “the net effect in salaries will be within about 1 percent once we fill that last position, compared to what we had before. So there will be no significant budget implications for these four recent changes, which hopefully are complete.” During public comment,

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

More than 850 beer aficionados enjoyed the fifth annual Kennett WinterFest, held Feb. 25 at Genesis HealthCare. For more photos, turn to Page 1B.

former school board member Holly Manzone addressed the board. “Dr. Sanville, last month, in recognition of school directors month, you said ‘I’ve been working with the district since 2007, and with very few exceptions, I can tell you that the folks who have sat around this table have been really hard-working, dedicated people,’” Manzone said. “I would like to know which school directors have been less than honest and hardworking, and on what basis

Interest in new kindergarten program soars in Avon Grove By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer The Avon Grove School District will be launching its new full-day kindergarten program to start the 2017-2018 school year, and so far families in the community are expressing a lot of interest in the program. At the Feb. 23 school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese informed the school board that so far there have been 222 registration appointments for the full-day kindergarten program. For the sake of comparison, there were 145 registration appointments at this time last year. The district has been working for months to get parents to register their children for kindergarten early this year so that the transition from a half-day to a

full-day program goes as smoothly as possible. Marchese said that the number of registration appointments so far indicates that there is increased interest in the full-day kindergarten program. District officials have discussed implementing a full-day kindergarten program for a long time, but it was just within the last two to three years that the concept gained momentum. The district’s top administrators want to offer full-day kindergarten to students because it will provide increased instructional time and learning opportunities for students. The additional learning opportunities will benefit students who have under-performed early in their academic careers, and give them a stronger foundation to build on as they move through the elemen-

tary grades. Avon Grove will now be able to offer more interventions and supports to young learners who might otherwise fall behind in their academic growth. By offering full-day kindergarten, Avon Grove will have a competitive program with charter schools and private schools in the area. District officials expect enrollment to grow as a result of the kindergarten program. In other business at the meeting, the Avon Grove School Board approved a new dual enrollment agreement with West Chester University. Marchese explained that the agreement will offer another good option for Avon Grove students. High school students will be able to begin earning college credits by taking courses Continued on Page 3A

you impugn the character of those individuals. “Throughout your tenure as superintendent, you’ve been plagued with complaints about bullying,” Manzone continued. “Do you even understand what bullying is? You can learn about it through the Olweus program that we have been spending thousands of dollars on. What you’ll find is that physical bullying is obvious, but there is also verbal bullying and social bullying, which includes

things like spreading rumors about someone, or embarrassing someone in public. Your comment about school directors falls into this category. “But it is not an isolated incident,” she continued. “There are plenty of examples. Maybe your comments were not intended to be hurtful. Maybe they were just a thoughtless choice of words. As the leader of this fine school district, you are in a position of power. If it’s Continued on Page 3A

State surcharge should spare regional police By Uncle Irvin I’m no fan of Gov. Tom Wolf, but he has come up with a worthwhile tax for municipalities without a local police force. The state’s going broke. Republican legislators will not raise broad-based taxes, the state police budget is constantly rising because crime is increasing in rural/suburban areas covered solely by the state police, and local supervisors are not setting up their own or regional police forces at a fast enough pace. The preferable alternative is that supervisors set up their own local force, or more appropriately, initiate regional forces

like New Garden/West Grove just did. Large, growing townships, like London Grove, Penn, and East Nottingham, need local policing right now. All these townships are sitting on large tax ratables and miniscule millage, and demanding more of the state police. Under Gov. Wolf’s plan, these townships will be paying annual taxes and have no control over the state police. They need to wise up and set up their own forces, remaining in control and offering residents better, more responsive police. Kennett and East Marlborough townships should re-explore Continued on Page 3A


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