GV School Board: Aides Spared, Chambers Resigns, Social Studies Shortage

The Great Valley School Board held its last regular business meeting of the 2011-2012 school year on June 11 at the —though a special public meeting has been scheduled for June 25.

Here are the salient topics from Monday's meeting:

• Bruce Chambers' resignation: School board member Bruce Chambers did not attend the meeting. Board president David Barratt announced that Chambers, a former president, had tendered a letter of resignation. No specific reason was given for his decision. Later in the meeting, the board voted to accept his resignation. Any residents of Region 1 looking to replace Chambers should contact district business director and board secretary Charles Linderman.
• Personal Care Aides spared: The district's Personal Care Aides (PCAs)—who were informed just hours before the meeting that they would be terminated and offered positions with an outside firm to whom the district was outsourcing their jobs—were in fact not terminated. The district had arranged for all 23 of the aides to be hired by the company, CCRES, if they chose to apply, superintendent Alan Lonoconus explained. Before the vote, several members of the public, including aides themselves, said the decision was a poor one made without sufficient public notice. The measure wasn't voted down; the PCA terminations were simply exempted from the long list of other personnel changes approved.
• District goals discussed: The board reviewed its district goals, most of which were met—e.g., 93 percent of graduates will go on to higher education (goal was 93 percent); 51 percent of graduates will attend Princeton Review's Top 376 schools (goal was 50 percent). Some data, including PSSA scores, will not be available until the summer. Some board members reiterated concerns about the Princeton Review goal, arguing it is a financial imposition on families and an unfair metric on which to judge administrators, and that the Top 376 list does not include many well-respected colleges.
• Assistant Superintendents appointed: principal Dan Goffredo was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education and Pupil Services. Dr. Robin Koslo-Stahl was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Services and Elementary Education.
• Social Studies shortage: After parent Karen Wilson complained about receiving "11th hour" notice that 20th-Century American History would not be offered to sophomores, the board discussed at length whether sufficient social studies courses were being offered. Goffredo explained that many southern schools and military academies require four years of social studies.

A June 26 public meeting was scheduled. That meeting will include further discussion of district goals, a review of candidates to replace Bruce Chambers in Region 1, and a look at options to address the limited social studies offerings in the high school. At that meeting, a new adminstrative organizational chart will be presented, which Lonoconus said would result in a savings for the district.

[Edited 6/12/12 9:50 a.m. to correct name of company from Crest to CCRES, and to correct date of special meeting from June 25 to June 26.