For the first time in a while, education seems to come first for CASD
By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times
COATESVILLE — It was hard not to read the headlines this week from the Coatesville Area School District and feel like, finally, things are moving forward.
From the final severing of ties to former district solicitor James Ellison, to the resignation of Board of Education President Neil Campbell, to the decision to go after legal compensation from former superintendent Richard Como, it is evident that Coatesville is a district clearly intent on cleaning up its act.
From here, much of the credit must go to Dr. Cathy Taschner, the new superintendent of schools. Although, I grant I was somewhat dubious about her and certainly had questions when she was hired, she’s hit the ground running, vastly improved the transparency of of how the district operates and has made it clear — unlike previous superintendents — her first priority is the education of the students in the school district.
And while it is very evident that Taschner has put the district on the right course, the only worry will be whether or not it is too late, as the next few years promise to bring further financial travail to both the district and the city.
Whether is the the roughly $275 million in debt the district is carrying — not paying down principle on bond issues for nearly a decade has left the district in a financially precarious position — or the looming the financial disaster that is only two to three years off for the city, this is not to suggest that Taschner has solved the district’s many looming problems.
What she, and a newly responsible and responsive (and less inclined to spitting out blatant, self-serving fictions) board of education, have done is largely clear the decks and give Coatesville’s schools a fighting chance to make it through the coming storm — and avoid the disaster that a state takeover would bring to the community.
But again — and the same is largely true with City Council — although now they have a capable leadership team all too aware of the problems and actively trying to fix them, will it prove to be too little, too late?
You have to hope that both county and state resources can be brought to bear to aid both the city and district — were the city to end up in Act 47, the law covering distressed communities — and/or the school district be taken over by the state, it would be a disaster not just for the people of the Coatesville area, but for much of Chester County. Folks outside of the Coatesville Area School District need to know they have a stake — a real stake — in how this story turns out, and make that point clear to both county and state elected officials.
In these tough times, it’s going to take a group effort within and without the Coatesville community to avert financial disaster, and its ripple effect that could raise taxes and hurt education and services in all parts of the county.
Still, even with the dark clouds on the horizon, you have to feel better about having honest, forthright and gutsy leadership now running the school district.
While we await the alleged grand jury report and possible indictments into the conduct of the school district, filing suit against Como and Donato opens the door to discovery by the defendants which will likely lay bare the conduct of any number of former school board members — and expose much that folks may have only suspected.
It would have been much easier to let it go, move on and deal with the oncoming crisis, granted. But it says a lot about doing the right thing and making those who allegedly damaged the school district be held accountable for their actions.
It is a great lesson to our kids and a better sign to the community that things will no longer be swept under the rug.
Painful as the process may be, it is one that will make the community stronger and the school district better and more accountable. You have to applaud Taschner and the school board for that.
This was a good week for Coatesville.
