The Chester County Board of Education met Tuesday night, Sep. 23, at West Chester Elementary School. All members of the board were present at this meeting. Shane Connor and Ben Cupples were both re-elected as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. Kim Scott was also elected as the new Legislative Representative of the board.
Spotlight was given to West Chester Elementary in a presentation by the school’s Principal, Amy Wooley. She shared a video presentation that involved West Chester students, which highlighted things such as their S.O.A.R. Eagle expectations, a word of the day and the Pledge of Allegiance, all led by students. Wooley shared that both the second and third-grade classes met their reading AMOs. She gave special thanks to the third-grade teachers, as they have graciously taken on extra students in reading and math due to a teacher being out. She finally shared some other activities that the school has been involved in recently, such as gun safety presentations for students, reading bikes being installed in the library, and popsicles on the playground for students meeting the S.O.A.R. Eagle standards.
All authorized fundraisers for the 2025-2026 school year were approved. See page 10-A. This came after a new policy, which required all who wanted to organize a school fundraiser to attend a meeting or watch the meeting at a later date. This is making sure that those who are organizing these fundraisers understand the fiscal responsibility that they are undertaking when organizing one of these events.
Superintendent Troy Kilzer presented the board with a revision to CCBOE Policy 4.605. This regards the number of credits that Chester County High School students will have to obtain to graduate. This would raise the number of credits to obtain from 22 to 25. There was some pushback on this policy change, as board members were concerned with the extra stress that this would put on students. Kilzer explained that this policy change was trying to help promote work-based learning and dual enrolment programs. Students will have a larger opportunity to explore more options for what they want to pursue after high school. This revision passed and will be implemented incrementally, with an additional credit being added each successive school year until it reaches 25 credits.
The Board officially recognized September as National Suicide Prevention Month. All board members also signed a state-wide Suicide Awareness proclamation.
Kilzer also brought forward the request for the board to consider purchasing land connected to Jacks Creek Elementary. It was proposed that the land would be cleared to provide a more open and less tree-crowded space for the driveway adjacent to this plot. There were some concerns over the amount of time it would take to maintain this property, but ultimately, the board decided to purchase this plot of land.
In other updates, the High School’s Agriculture and Auto facility is on track to open sometime around the school’s fall break. The main things that still must be completed are the internet connectivity and the maglock systems for the doors. Also, the High School’s practice field is complete and is set to be in use next spring.
The next Chester County Board of Education meeting will be on Oct. 21 at East Chester Elementary School, beginning at 5 p.m.
