UCF board get closer look at proposed campus improvements and costs

By JP Phillips, Staff Writer, The Times

Part of the proposal would reconfigure parking at Unionville High School and add new fields and facilities to the campus.

EAST MARLBOROUGH — K&W Consultants, the firm hired earlier this year to examine the Unionville Elementary and Patton/High School traffic flow, parking and athletic facilities came back in front of the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education with their suggestions, this time with a recommended priority and cost estimates, during Monday night’s board Work Session.

Supervisor of Buildings and Grounds James Whitesel explained that, just as long-term building needs assessment and planning are done on a regular basis, review of site and ground aspects are standard practice in facilities management. He emphasized that none of the ideas presented are projects until feedback is collected and the board makes a final determination (later this year).

The presentation isolated each potential item and assigned an approximate cost as well as relative student/community safety impact.  The plan looked separately at Unionville Elementary and the Middle/High School campuses.

According to the K&S representative, Unionville Elementary has twenty-plus acres of undeveloped property behind the left side of the school.  The projects given top priority include restriping the front parking lot to better distinguish bus and car parking, and minor remediation of the ballfield.  When Whitesel was asked by board member John Murphy if restriping should be included in routine maintenance instead of this long-term plan, he replied that milling and resurfacing, a more expensive fix, is needed, because snow plows frequently expose old lines.  These two projects are estimated at less than $200,000.

Other suggestions include an outdoor classroom with a path to the pond ($250-750,000, depending on design), a community/student fitness trail and a natural play area near the pond (both for under $200,000).

If all four UE projects were adopted, the estimated taxpayer cost would be in the area of $900,000.

The proposals for the Middle/High School are more extensive.

Most important from a safety aspect was to install better fencing and nettings.  The proposed retractable ball control nettings surround parts of fields where balls routinely enter other playing or seating areas.  Both items should cost under $100,000.

The next recommendation was to relocate the tennis courts to the north end of campus (by the Route 82 traffic circle), allowing for construction of a “center spine” road between the two schools.  The spine would contain a four-way stop to a turn off to the first parking lot before proceeding to the lower lot.  The eight-court tennis area would include a parking lot and either an open-air pavilion or a full field house with restrooms and a concessions area ($1.5 to $3 million).

The tennis courts and the center spine proposal received the most resident feedback at the start of the meeting.  A Pocopson resident revisited last month’s residents (who are also coaches) comments concerning the insufficient number of courts.  She claimed that an informal survey of other Chester County school facilities showed that most have fewer than Unionville’s current count of six.  A Chadds Ford resident added that the current courts were just resurfaced last year, and questioned how many students actually use them.  She also stated that obviously everyone wants increased safety, but would like to see accident and traffic data analysis before agreeing to the high expense of the proposed central spine.

Also on the site plan list was a new field house for restrooms by the existing artificial turf field.  The entire area would be enclosed by a fence.  This enables better control of ticket sales and make it more difficult to bring unauthorized items into the venue.  The price tag for this is in the area of $750,000-1.5 million.  At an additional expense, adding a larger field house with a locker room would enable the field to be self-contained, with no need to have the high school building open during events.

On the list was a new synthetic turf quad on the northside that could be used for various sports at a cost of over $1.5 million.  Additional grass fields and parking are also in the proposal.

Board member Gregg Lindner said that he would like to see important safety fixes (like repaving and striping the UE lot and ball control nets) done without waiting for the whole grounds plan to be agreed upon.

Some residents cautioned the board that money spent on renovations means less money available for instructional initiatives. In particular, a Chadds Ford resident and graduate of the district felt that a disproportionate amount is spent on sports instead of putting aside more for helping differently-abled students get what they need.

Another resident felt that aspects of this plan subsidizes outside sports groups, and that “taxpayers are tapped out.”

The administration and board expressed thanks for the residents’ input, and encourages the community to provide feedback over the next two months either at meetings or directly to Whitesel.  The board will then decide which of the items presented (if any) will be incorporated into the district’s long-term plan.  To read The Times’ coverage of the initial presentation, which included more rationale for recommendations, click here.

In other news, full implementation of the “See Something, Say Something” anonymous reporting program will be delayed until January because Pennsylvania is mandating a state-wide program as part of the recently-passed Department of Education Act 44 (School Safety Initiative).  The program will be called “Safe to Say,” and though the app and reporting system is delayed, student and teacher training will be held this fall as previously planned.

The district announced that UCFSD alumni Dora McQuaid (poet), Harry Hammond (golf professional), and Jean Russell (retired UE teacher) are this year’s inductees to the Wall of Honor.  Read more about them and the program here.

Assistant Superintendent John Nolen advised the board that they have trouble filling special education substitutes, and asked the board to approve the contracting of six district substitutes, to be voted on next week.

Next Up:  A special meeting to discuss the findings of the committee that worked through the summer to recommend a rewritten Policy 218, Student Code of Conduct (student discipline) from 6-7 on Monday, Sept. 24.  It is followed by the Board meeting at 7:30 in room 14 at the District Office, adjacent to the High School.

All board meetings are open to the public.  They are broadcasted live (and archived) on the UCFSD web site.

Board documents:  http://www.boarddocs.com/pa/uncf/Board.nsf/public

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