Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 155, No. 35
INSIDE
Wednesday, September 1, 2021
$1.00
County teacher charged with sexual abuse of a student The Chester County District Attorney’s Office is charging Luis Morales with sexual abuse of a student in the Nottingham Elementary School for incidents that allegedly occurred in the Oxford school between 2014 and 2016
Luis Morales, a 56-year- tary school student. This report was made to the Oxford Borough Police Department in June of of a student for incidents 2021. that allegedly took place An investigation resulted between 2014 and 2016, in Morales being charged when the child was in the with multiple counts third grade and fourth of aggravated indecent grade at the Nottingham assault, institutional sexElementary School in ual assault, corruption Oxford. of minors, and related The Chester County offenses. District Attorney’s Office Morales taught English as and the the Oxford Borough a Second Language (ESL) Police Department at the Oxford Area School announced Morales’ arrest District until 2016, and was on Aug. 25. suspended in June 2021 According to the com- from the Phoenixville Area book plaint, a 14-year-old child School District, where he reported being sexually had been working for the abused by the defendant, past five years. her ESL teacher, when When the charges were she was an elemen- announced, Chester County
Branford Marsalis head- old teacher who lives in lines Longwood’s Wine & West Chester, is being Jazz Fest...1B charged with sexual abuse
Author plans signings...3A
Chester County pursues renewable energy partnership...6A
District Attorney Deb Ryan noted that there has been an increase in the number of cases where students are being abused by people in positions of trust. “Chester County is seeing an unacceptable wave of students who have been sexually abused in our elementary, middle, and high schools,” Ryan said. “It is imperative that we implement safeguards in our schools and any other place children are to protect them from predators. Adults need to engage in oversight by watching out for children. Anyone Courtesy photo who works with children Luis Morales, a 56-year-old ESL teacher who lives in has a legal obligation as a West Chester, is being charged with sexual abuse of a mandated reporter, but all student for incidents that allegedly took place between Continued on page 2A
Fire company County student, classmates to kick off president talks all-in-one college app about the need for volunteers Deb Terry is the first woman to serve as fire company president in the history of Oxford Union Fire Company No. 1, but while she likes the history and traditions of the organization, she’s much more focused on the future
INDEX Opinion.......................7A Obituaries.......2B,3B,5B Classifieds..................6B
Courtesy photo
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Devon native and former Conestoga High School student Chris Tsetsekos, left, and his two Haverford School classmates David Graham, center, and Jon Krouse, right, are the makers of FuzeMee, the first all-in-one college app designed to help students find friends, roommates, and events on their campus. The app is scheduled to be introduced at Tufts University – where Tsetsekos attends -- in September – and subsequently phased in at other colleges and universities.
© 2007 The Chester County Press
2014 and 2016.
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer In February of 2020, Devon native and former Conestoga High School student Chris Tsetsekos
and his two Haverford School classmates Jon Krouse and David Graham were living in the temporary limbo known to many high school seniors. It was the period between receiving a college accep-
tance letter and the fear of the unknown that would await them when they arrived at their respective college campuses in the fall. Continued on page 4A
Avon Grove among four Southeastern Pennsylvania schools to receive free hotspots, Internet service Through free connectivity solutions, AT&T is breaking down barriers to remote learning for students AT&T and the nonprofit Connected Nation are putting connectivity solutions vital to education into the hands of those who need it most. Four schools in Southeastern Pennsylvania, including two in Chester County and one each in Delaware and Montgomery counties, received nearly 800 free hotspots as well as free internet connectivity. They are part of more than 100 organizations and school districts that are benefiting from a $10 million commitment first announced last year to provide free
internet subscriptions and wireless hotspots to 35,000 vulnerable students across the country. The schools in Pennsylvania are Elwyn Davidson School in Elwyn; Fairwold Academy at Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) in Fort Washington; Valley Youth House in West Chester; and the Avon Grove School District. An estimated 17 million K-12 students nationwide currently lack access to the connectivity and devices required for successful online learning. While this
homework gap is not new, the pandemic has heightened the challenges -- most acutely in rural and underresourced neighborhoods, where the effects disproportionately impact one in three students of color, as well as students with disabilities, and roughly 10 percent of all public-school teachers. Whether students are learning remotely or in the classroom, having access to affordable high-speed internet and devices is nonnegotiable for successful learning outcomes. Continued on page 4A
By Betsy Brewer Brantner ing the progress that has Contributing Writer been made over 150 years means everything,” she Deb Terry would say that said. “Our younger genbeing a member of Oxford eration continues this great Union Fire Company No. 1 service and tradition. We is a family thing. continue to move forward.” Terry’s family has been While Terry is disapinvolved with the fire com- pointed that the 150th pany ever since she can anniversary celebration for remember. Her parents, her the fire company in Oxford husband and her children has been put on hold for were or are volunteers with now, she said that the fire the fire company. company continues to focus “I grew up here watching on safety and serving the my mom and dad in the fire community. company, and acknowledgContinued on page 3A
Harold Gray, former mayor and police officer in Oxford Borough, passes away
On Tuesday afternoon, the Oxford Borough Police Department posted online that Harold Gray, a former mayor and police officer for the borough, had passed away. Gray served his country and his community for decades. Following a long career as a police officer, Gray served as mayor from 1994 through 2005. He was a longtime volunteer for the Salvation Army, and each holiday season he could be found ringing a bell outside local stores to collect money for the charity.