{"id":18798,"date":"2017-01-10T11:05:46","date_gmt":"2017-01-10T16:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=18798"},"modified":"2017-01-10T11:08:35","modified_gmt":"2017-01-10T16:08:35","slug":"rock-abruptly-resigns-from-ucf-board-over-bullying-issue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=18798","title":{"rendered":"Rock abruptly resigns from UCF board over bullying issue"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Mike McGann<\/strong>, Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>

Michael Rock offers his resignation from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board Monday night as left, Superintendent John Sanville and right Board Director Gregg Lindner look on.<\/p><\/div>\n

EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education Director Michael Rock decried what he termed as his colleagues\u2019 failure to acknowledge concerns by minority parents about bullying in the schools and resigned from his position just minutes into Monday night\u2019s work session.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/span> remain<\/span> stunned<\/span> and<\/span> dumbfounded<\/span> by<\/span> our<\/span> continuing<\/span> unwillingness to<\/span> honor<\/span> the<\/span> heartfelt<\/span> requests<\/span> from<\/span> several<\/span> of<\/span> our<\/span> minority<\/span> parents<\/span> who asked us, following the election, to send a letter to everyone in our community condemning in no uncertain terms intimidation of our minority students and offering our strongest commitment to support diversity<\/span> and<\/span> tolerance<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> UCFSD,\u201d Rock read from a prepared statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rock claimed that Superintendent of Schools Dr. John Sanville reportedly told\u00a0<\/span>a minority parent that \u201cthere<\/span> is<\/span> nothing<\/span> the<\/span> District<\/span> can<\/span> do<\/span> to<\/span> address their concerns in the absence of a specific and formal complaint that would<\/span> be<\/span> handled<\/span> by<\/span> our<\/span> bullying<\/span> policy.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Related: Rock’s entire statement<\/em><\/a><\/h3>\n

Board president Victor Dupuis expressed disappointment in Rock\u2019s actions and said Rock had a responsibility to report any such concern \u2014 and likely a legal duty to do so \u2014 as a school board director.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m disappointed that he thinks he is above the law,\u201d Dupuis said. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dupuis also took issue with Rock\u2019s basic premise, suggesting that the district has been clear in that it will not tolerate bullying or intimidation of students, staff or anyone and has gone great lengths to demonstrate that.<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, the issue has been a long-simmering one, since the election of Donald Trump as president last November and a series of concerning incidents by alleged white nationalist groups and others targeting minorities, since the election. The issue has been a point of discussion in a number of Chester County school districts. Twice last year, parents of Asian-American students appeared before the UCF board asking for intervention with what they saw as concerning behavior.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rock suggested that Unionville-Chadds Ford follow the lead of the Radnor Township School District \u2014 where current UCF Assistant to the Superintendent Ken Batchelor is set to become Superintendent next month \u2014 and issue a letter to the community at large and develop a diversity plan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rock said that he had hoped to remain on the board through the end of his term \u2014 his Region B\u00a0 <\/span>(Newlin, Pocopson and Birmingham) seat is up for election in 2017 and Rock was not expected to seek reelection \u2014 but that he saw his efforts as becoming futile without support from his colleagues on the board and administration. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot and will not serve on a Board that does not have the common decency<\/span> to<\/span> comfort<\/span> our<\/span> minority<\/span> parents<\/span> in<\/span> these<\/span> trying<\/span> times<\/span> especially since<\/span> it<\/span> is<\/span> so<\/span> easy<\/span> and<\/span> simple<\/span> to<\/span> do,\u201d Rock said.<\/span> \u201c<\/span>There<\/span> are<\/span> times<\/span> when<\/span> it<\/span> is<\/span> important to<\/span> stand<\/span> up<\/span> to<\/span> racism<\/span> and<\/span> bigotry<\/span>,<\/span> even<\/span> the<\/span> quiet<\/span> and<\/span> unspoken kind<\/span> that we<\/span> are<\/span> experiencing<\/span> here,<\/span> and<\/span> say<\/span> no.<\/span> So<\/span> I<\/span> offer<\/span> my<\/span> resignation<\/span> from<\/span> the Board<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> UCFSD<\/span> effective<\/span> at<\/span> the<\/span> end<\/span> of<\/span> my<\/span> remarks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Rock\u2019s seat will be filled by appointment of the board in the coming weeks. The district will announce the application process in the coming days \u2014 residents of Region B are eligible \u2014 and based on past process, the candidates will be interviewed by the board at an upcoming meeting, before the board votes for a replacement, who will serve through the final meeting of November, 2017. <\/span><\/p>\n

Two seats from Region B \u2014 Rock\u2019s and that of Director Steven Simonson \u2014 are up for election in 2017 for a term that would begin in December. Two Region A (East Marlborough and West Marlborough) seats \u2014 those of Jeff Hellrung and Elise Anderson \u2014 are also up for election. Both Hellrung and Anderson have announced their plans to run for their seats.<\/span><\/p>\n

In other district news, the board gave OK to the proposed preliminary budget for the 2017-18 school year of $85,519,633. The initial budget proposal \u2014 basically a rough draft of the coming year\u2019s budget calls for a 3.44% tax increase in Chester County and a 1.24% tax increase in Delaware County \u2014 the difference coming from the variation in property valuations between the two counties. <\/span><\/p>\n

The rate has swung back and forth over the years \u2014 with one county\u2019s rate being higher than the other at various times. The proposed preliminary budget calls for the use of $500,000 in exceptions under Act 1\u00a0 <\/span>\u2014 the state law limiting real estate tax increases, this year\u2019s Act 1 increase limit is 2.5%. The district is eligible for roughly $890,000 in special education cost increases and just over $300,000 in pension increases.<\/span><\/p>\n

The board approved the initial draft of the budget, but may relook at how much exceptions to seek in the version sent to the state next month. The district would not be able seek any exceptions not in the proposed preliminary budget submitted to the state.<\/span><\/p>\n

One wrinkle that could change some of the numbers, Hellrung suggested eliminating student activity fees for sports and other activities in the high school and middle school, which accounts for about $110,000 in revenue for the district yearly. Hellrung argued for maintaining the parking fees at Unionville High School \u2013 at $200 a year the highest in the county \u2014 as he suggested that driving to school was a privilege and demand for the parking permits had typically outstripped supply.<\/span><\/p>\n

Also, Dave Listman, the district\u2019s Communications and Stakeholder Integration Director, gave a presentation on a potential upgrade of the district\u2019s communication software. Listman detailed potential options to better integrate the Web, messaging and other digital communication portals for the district \u2014 with the goal of upgrading at no additional costs to the district. The project, he said, is likely to continue through 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

The board welcome exchange students to the high school from Costa Rica \u2014 and noted their harrowing trip north. The students flew through Fort Lauderdale and were at the airport during this week\u2019s fatal shootings in the baggage area. Although none were thought to be in the immediate area or in any danger, the airport\u2019s closure seriously impacted their travel, meaning they did not reach their host families until 4:30 a.m. Unionville students are expected to make their own trip to Costa Rica on an exchange trip this summer, formally up for approval at the board meeting on Jan. 23.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, the board voted unanimously \u2014 8-0 with Simonson absent \u2014 to expel three students. Although no details were discussed at the meeting \u2014 per state law \u2014 Sanville did issue a statement to the community at large offering details:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn early December 2016 a knife was brought onto school property. After investigation by the UHS administration, it was determined that three students were involved in this incident,\u201d Sanville wrote. \u201cThe investigation indicates that this knife was not intended for use in an act of mass violence – \u00a0but rather related to an interpersonal student matter. While no students were injured, and the incident was handled swiftly, professionally, and peacefully, it was a disturbing and unnerving experience.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times EAST MARLBOROUGH \u2014 Unionville-Chadds Ford Board of Education Director Michael Rock decried what he termed as his colleagues\u2019 failure to acknowledge concerns by minority parents about bullying in the schools and resigned from his position just minutes into Monday night\u2019s work session. \u201cI remain stunned and dumbfounded by our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[100,3063,6269,8455,6873,614],"class_list":["post-18798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-board-of-education","tag-budget","tag-featured","tag-michael-rock","tag-resignation","tag-unionville-chadds-ford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18801,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18798\/revisions\/18801"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}