Students press board over high parking fees
By Karen Cresta, Correspondent, The Times
EAST MARLBOROUGH – Although the Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education had a fairly quiet agenda for its regular meeting Monday night, a number of students in attendance as part of the requirements for the government class ended up pressing board members on various issues, specifically why Unionville High School’s student parking fee is so much higher than neighboring schools.
Although it’s not unusual to see Unionville High School students at board meetings — especially those needing to fulfill requirements for the Advanced Placement Government class — this time the students became full-on participants in the meeting.
Sam Miller, a senior at Unionville, asked some thought-provoking questions during the residents’ comments part of the agenda. One of the questions appeared to stump the board. Why does it cost $200 to obtain a student parking pass for the year? Another asked where does the approximate $20,000 in fees actually go?
Miller stood alone in front of the board at the microphone. He said that he understands driving to school is an optional activity in theory, and reasonable to pay for it, but to him it is a necessity to have the ability to work and/or stay for sports after school.
“It is almost a requirement,” Miller said.
His parents expect him to pay for his own parking pass, he said. He said he was concerned that the amount is so different from other schools such as neighboring Kennett High School where his friend only pays $20.00 or other kids pay $40.00. Miller added that he gets that some of the money is needed for parking lot maintenance and snow removal, but he said he wanted to know why the fee if so high. He said he also wanted to know what the money goes toward. Miller’s fellow students showed their agreement by applauding him.
Kathleen Do, a member of the board, said, “I suspect we will all be talking about it later.”
But later turned into more immediate conversation on the topic and some explanation of the current process and fees.
Juniors and seniors at the high school submit a request to obtain a parking permit with a valid driver’s license, registration and insurance. It will cost him/her $100.00 per semester. That’s $200.00 for the school year. Seniors get seniority for the available spaces and then they are offered as a lottery to juniors. Since construction on the high school was completed and parking spaces made available, there are plenty of spaces so the lottery was not necessary for this school year. The fee gets prorated for each semester. So, if a junior, who just got their license or a car, got a parking permit today, they would pay $75.00. Miller said he was assuming that there are approximately 100 spaces available for juniors and seniors. He was also assuming that they paid for both semesters for a total of $200.00. In any case, his point was to find out why the parking permit fee was so high and if the school gets $20,000.00, he wanted to know where “exactly” it went.
Robert Cochran, Director of Business and Operations, said that the money collected goes to the general fund revenue that funds school operations. In essence, it goes into the $70 million dollar budget. He told Miller that he will contact some of his colleagues at other schools throughout Chester and Delaware counties to get the facts. He needed to find out how much other schools charge and how it correlates to Unionville High School’s parking fees. There will be more discussion to come on the topic once some facts are collected, school officials said.
Do, in making her report for the Curriculum, Education and Technology Committee which she chairs, spoke about two items that she believed can make Unionville-Chadds Ford a very high quality school district.
One, she noted, was academic integrity and the prominence or lack of cheating in schools. There would be more to come on the findings and recommendations to create a district-wide honesty committee and honor code to “reinforce a culture that cheating is socially unacceptable.”
The other item, she said, was the quantity and quality of homework and limitations on the amount of tests given in one day. The next step would be the distribution of surveys to gather feedback for these challenges for the amount and quality of homework in the district at all levels.
The final results of McKissick Associates attendance study, approved for a contract at last week’s board Work Session, will be completed in November, Superintendent of Schools John Sanville said. The study will assess the student population size projections then determine if any actions need to be taken “to insure that the Educational Program at all of our elementary schools is consistent.”
This is not to be confused with redistricting for the four elementary schools in the district, he cautioned. Redistricting could be be a result of the study if so warranted.
In other business, Paula Massanari, principal of Unionville High School, thanked Sandy Norton for “lots of years of dedication” and “she is the glue that holds it all together.” Norton worked in the main office as secretary for 27 years and is retiring on Dec. 19. Massanari said Norton is infamous for her “mop-up Fridays” when she took care of everything related to discipline. Norton said that she felt that the school was her second family but it was time to take care of her first family at home – her husband, two daughters, and seven grandchildren. Norton received a standing ovation from the board and attendees.
Samantha Seidenberger presented her high school student representative report. She acknowledged that the amount of spirit the school displayed was unbelievable for homecoming events. She congratulated two UHS choir students, Abu Aki and Jesse Bolger, who were selected for the All National Choir in Nashville, TN. She was proud to report that on Sept. 27, Club Wave helped to plant 890 trees at Pocopson Home. This initiative was part of Brandywine Conservancy’s goal to plant 50,000 trees by its 50th anniversary. Seidenberger also reported that while sophomores and juniors took the PSATs, freshman and seniors attended a very beneficial assembly called NOPE (Narcotics overdose prevention education).
The next board work session will be held on Monday, Nov. 10, at 6:30 p.m., at the district office. Further discussions will continue and audit results will be presented about the potential to transfer approximately $1.5 million from the general fund to the capital project fund to be set aside for school construction and repairs.
