West Chester Area School District Board Meeting Highlights

Meeting Held Monday,November 27,2017

Summary of Action Taken:

The West Chester Area School Board held its monthly meeting on Monday, November 27, 2017at the new Spellman Education Center. The meeting began with a salute to the flag led by Valeria Soriano-Ayala and Kenadee Carlson (Hillsdale Elementary School). High school reports were given byMakenna White (Henderson HS), Kaylie Quinn-Gallo (East HS), and Carolina Franco (Rustin HS). The Board also recognized Ms. Robin Kaliner (board member) for her four years of service to the school board, and Dr. Ricky Swalm (board member) for his ten years of service to the school board. Both did not seek re-election, and were attending their final meeting as school board members.

In addition to its regular board business, the Board approved the following:

Approval of sale of the old Spellman building. The board approved an agreement of sale to Stanbery West Goshen LLC, a commercial developer from Ohio in the amount of $4,250,000. The sale is contingent upon a successful due diligence period to receive final approval from the township

Approval of new high school courses for the 2018-19 school year. The board approved the following new courses for the 2018-19 school year:

  • Statistics and Sports analytics
  • Dual Enrollment with West Chester University – Astronomy and Geology; Oceanography and Meteorology
  • AP Human Geography
  • AP Capstone Research

Approval of the naming of the East HS Gymnasium. The board approved the naming of the East HS gymnasium as the Jack “Shug” Byrne Gymnasium. The facility will be dedicated at a basketball game in January, 2018.

Personnel Report. In addition to the monthly personnel report action items, the board approved the following retirements:

  • Karol Appel – art teacher at WTE with 36 years of experience.
  • Elizabeth Gallagher – reading specialist at EBE with 11 years of experience.
  • Murielle Steele – instructional assistant at HDE with 27 years of experience.

The following policies/administrative guidelines were approved for a first reading and will appear on next month’s board meeting for second reading approval:

  • Policy 150- Title I Comparability of Services
  • Policy 103 – Non Discrimination and Classroom Practices
  • Policy 103.1 – Non Discrimination of Students with Disabilities
  • Policy 104 – Non Discrimination for Employment Practices

The following policies/administrative guidelines were approved for a second reading and are now active:

  • Approval of revised Policy 200 Enrollment of Students

For more information about the West Chester Area School District Board meetings, please visit
The next meeting will be held on Monday, December 18, 2017, 7:30 pm at the
Spellman Education Center