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West Area Chester School Board Approves $302M Budget For 2023-24

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Schools

The budget calls for no tax increase for Chester County residents and a $5 tax increase for Delaware County residents.

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WEST CHESTER, PA – The West Chester Area school board Wednesday night adopted a $302.2 million school budget for the 2023-24 school year, amounting to a $5.3 million, or 1.8 percent, increase over this year’s spending plan.

The 2023-24 budget has no tax increase for Chester County property owners and a .1 percent increase for Delaware County property owners, which amounts to $5 for the average property owner.

The district has 11,972 students. The district has 16 schools, including three high schools, three middle schools, and 10 elementary schools.

The differences in county average assessments account for formula differences resulting in the differing tax rates.

The property tax millage rate for West Chester remains one of the lowest in Chester County.

The average assessed home value in Chester County is now $189,850, which is approximately one-half of the home’s market value. The district is comprised of the West Chester borough and the surrounding townships of East Goshen, West Goshen, East Bradford, West Whiteland, Westtown, and Thornbury in Chester County.

The average assessed home value in the Delaware County portion of the district is $502,336, which represents 100 percent of the market value. Delaware County section is Thornbury Township.

The district used savings from the 2022-23 operations to help offset the need for millage increases for the 2023-24 budget. The millage rate is 22.43 in Chester County and 9.94 in Delaware County.

The district’s undesignated fund balance is approximately $19.7 million.

The largest component of the budget is the salaries and benefits for the district’s 1,549 employees, which rose $6.9 million, a 4.7 percent increase.

The 2023-24 budget includes the addition of $1.9 million in staffing costs in the following areas:

Pupil Services

  • 3 special education teachers
  • 12 behavior specialists for our intensive autistic and emotional support K-12 classrooms
  • 3 behavior specialists
  • 1 school nurse
  • 1 psychologist
  • 3 intervention specialists at the middle school level
  • 1 community engagement specialist

Secondary Education

  • 3 instructional coaches
  • 3 athletic trainers

Other:

  • 1 custodian
  • 2 technology specialist
  • 1 human resources specialist
  • 1 electrician

The increases in staffing costs are partially offset by reductions in services that were previously outsourced as contracted services.

“The 2023-24 budget reflects a strong commitment to providing enhanced resources and experiences for all of our students as they strive to achieve their personal best,” said Dr. Kalia Reynolds substitute superintendent.

Other increases include more than $1.5 million directly related to the following state and federal mandates:

  • $850,000 million increase in state-mandated pension expenses, a 2.1 percent increase over the current year’s budget.
  • $700,000 in transportation expenses, a 4.1 percent increase over the current year.

“Each year, we are tasked with balancing the best interests of all stakeholders while creating engaging and effective learning environments,” said Sue Tiernan, school board president. “I am grateful for the collaborative process that this board and district administration have developed to ensure that responsibility is clearly understood and the strategic goals of the district are achieved.”

Gary Bevilacqua, director of the board’s finance committee, said the school board encourages the community to explore the budget documents, attend committee presentations, and ask questions at our monthly property and finance committee meetings.

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How Filipinos can live, work, and study in the USA through residence by investment

by globalnation.inquirer.net Leave a Comment

By investing in another country, Filipino citizens can receive alternative residence rights as well as a host of benefits such as enhanced global mobility, access to top-ranking educational institutions, world-class healthcare, and expanded business opportunities.

filipinos

Interest in obtaining an alternative residence through investment has increased dramatically over the past few years as high-net-worth individuals from around the world seek to unlock greater global access and enable increased freedom in terms of where they and their families can live, work, and study. As the country with the leading economy worldwide, boasting a GDP of over USD 20 trillion, the USA is one of the most desirable locations for both business and alternative residence. Filipino citizens who make a business investment in the USA can receive permanent residence to this global powerhouse through the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program .

The USA: A hotspot for millionaires

Affluent Filipino investors who invest in the USA would be in good company, as the USA dominates the list of the World’s Wealthiest Cities in 2023 when it comes to the number of millionaires living in the country, according to the latest report from Henley & Partners , the global leader in residence and citizenship by investment. New York City wears the crown as the wealthiest city in the world with 340,000 millionaires, while two other American wealth hubs — the San Francisco Bay Area and Los Angeles — come in 3 rd and 6 th places, with 285,000 and 205,400 resident high-net-worth individuals, respectively.

filipinos

Other cities such as Austin in Texas, West Palm Beach in Florida, and Scottsdale in Arizona feature high on the Top 10 list of fastest growing cities when it comes to resident millionaires over the past decade, with 102%, 90%, and 88% growth, respectively.

The right to live, work, and study in any of these leading international wealth hubs can be secured via the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program .

Key benefits of investing in the USA

The USA offers a wide range of choices when it comes to lifestyle, education, geography, and climate. Here are a few more reasons why the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is a top choice for wealthy Filipino entrepreneurs seeking alternative residence:

  • Families welcome — Investors can include their spouse and any unmarried children who are under 21 years old.
  • Access to top-tier education — Your children receive the ultimate advantage through access to a large selection of highly rated schools and Ivy League universities nationwide.
  • Freedom to travel — The physical presence requirements are flexible, so you can travel easily between the USA, the Philippines, and any of the 34 countries that your EB-5 visa allows you to access visa-free.
  • Minimal application requirements — There is no business experience or specific language proficiency needed when applying to the program.
  • Legacy-building — Successful applicants can be eligible for citizenship after five years of living in the USA.

Business investments required

To receive permanent residence in the USA , applicants must fulfill the following two requirements:

1. Invest in a commercial enterprise associated with a government-approved regional center.

Applicants can choose to either commit USD 800,000 to a targeted employment area project in a rural area or an area with high unemployment, or USD 1.05 million into a non-targeted employment area project.

2. Create or preserve 10 permanent full-time jobs for qualified USA workers.

Investors are also required to have a net worth of at least USD 1 million and be able to prove the legal source of their funds.

After 30–36 months of submitting their application, successful applicants receive an EB-5 visa (green card), granting them and their families the opportunity to live, work, and study in any of the 50 states of the USA.

filipinos

Henley & Partners

Being able to relocate yourself and your family to a more favorable country, especially one with three of the Top 10 wealthiest cities in the world, is an increasingly important aspect of international wealth and legacy planning for private clients. To find out more about how you and your family can receive green cards through the US EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program , reach out to Scott Moore , Managing Director and Head of the Philippines office at Henley & Partners.

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The real Ron DeSantis: From Little League star to Trump challenger

by www.telegraph.co.uk Leave a Comment

In the small town of Dunedin on Florida’s gulf coast, Ron DeSantis’s parents still live in the modest brick bungalow where the future presidential candidate grew up.

His father, Ron DeSantis Sr, doesn’t answer the door to reporters any more, following an interview last year when he overshared about his son being “stubborn” as a youngster.

Neighbours recall Florida’s now-governor playing basketball in the driveway. He called himself “D” then instead of Ron, and briefly became something of a local celebrity aged 12, when his Little League baseball team reached the World Series, eventually losing to Taiwan.

Mr DeSantis’s Italian-American family – all eight of his great-grandparents lived in Italy – bought the 1,829 sq ft house in 1985 for $65,000. It is now valued at $420,000, and has a double garage and small lawn.

For a living, his father installed Nielsen TV rating boxes around the neighbourhood, and his mother Karen worked as a nurse.

Mr DeSantis has described his upbringing in Dunedin as “blue collar,” but it was working class Florida-style.

Palm trees are dotted between the detached homes on the grid of streets where he lived. An orange sports car sits in one nearby driveway, and in another a large boat is for sale.

There are no factories or mines in Dunedin, and some of the world’s best beaches are a short drive away.

A few doors from Mr DeSantis’s boyhood home one neighbour was flying a large 2024 flag, which bore the names of both “Trump” and “DeSantis”.

It encapsulated the dilemma many Republican voters are feeling across the country, let alone on Mr DeSantis’s own street.

“I think Trump did a good job as president but I’m not crazy about him as a person,” the neighbour explained. “[Mr DeSantis] has a lot of the same values without the personality [of Mr Trump].

“I like what he’s done for Florida,” she added. “We need somebody much stronger and better than we have right now. He’d do a good job.”

The young Mr DeSantis was obsessed with baseball and would play Little League three miles from his home at Fisher Field, where there are half a dozen pristine fields with US flags flying on the home run fences.

He went to primary school at the nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, and on to Dunedin High School, a sprawling brick complex next to a church, with two more churches over the road.

The school has two large images of bagpipers on the front with the caption: “The best bands wear kilts.” The name of the town derives from Edinburgh, and it hosts an annual Dunedin Highland Games.

At school, Mr DeSantis was outstandingly bright. According to an entry in his graduation yearbook, he was US history student of the year and won the Princeton book award, along with a host of baseball awards playing for the school team, the Falcons.

There was no mention in the yearbook of any teenage political activism. His main non-academic activities were baseball and part-time jobs including one at the local Kash n’ Karry.

Considering he is now by far the most successful person ever to come from Dunedin – outstripping Game of Thrones director David Nutter – there is a surprising reticence among many Dunedinians to embrace him.

Julie Ward Bujalski, the mayor of Dunedin, which is just west of Tampa and has a population of 36,000, politely declined to comment on the town’s most famous son.

Instead, a spokesman for the town said: “We appreciate and are proud that we have a number of influential people from Dunedin, including the Governor.

“We don’t feel it’s appropriate to discuss the Governor given he’s exploring a partisan higher office and we are a non-partisan community.”

Dunedin has a vibrant artistic community and it is replete with studios and galleries, and has been home to numerous painters.

The Huettig Electric store where Mr DeSantis once worked – and which sponsored his Little League team – is now a luxury block of flats called “Artisan,” with modern art in the lobby.

Along the street are an organic supermarket, tap dance studio, art institute and independent cafes.

‘It’s not San Francisco’

“Most people would say our town is progressive. It’s not San Francisco, but it’s open and diverse,” said Bob Hackworth, 67, who was the Democrat mayor from 2005 to 2010.

“It’s hard for me to fathom how the culture of our town contributed to [Mr DeSantis’s] policies because they’re totally contradictory.”

The biggest nightlife draw in Dunedin has for decades been a drag show at Blur, a club on Main Street. When Mr DeSantis was growing up it was called Dallape’s.

Some in Dunedin have objected strongly to the governor’s recent signing of a law that prevents drag shows being performed in front of children.

“When he grew up in this town that had a prominent bar and had drag shows all the time,” said Mr Hackworth. “He had to be fully aware that was going on.”

The former mayor added: “There hasn’t been a real connection with the town. He had the Little League success, but then he disappeared after high school. I don’t think even when he ran for governor the town was mentioned.”

Mr DeSantis acknowledged his apparently complex relationship with his hometown in his book: The Courage To Be Free.

He wrote that he was “geographically raised in Tampa Bay” but “culturally my upbringing reflected the working-class communities in western Pennsylvania and north-east Ohio – from weekly church attendance to the expectation that one would earn his keep.”

Mr DeSantis is never going to be known as “Dunedin Ron” in the same way that Joe Biden is “Scranton Joe”.

Although he moved away from Scranton, Pennsylvania to Wilmington, Delaware as a child, Mr Biden references almost daily his birth in America’s industrial heartland.

However, there is something deeply American about Mr DeSantis’s upbringing.

Millions of voters grew up playing on similar baseball fields, dreaming of the major league as he did, and working in local mom-and-pop stores.

It was a suburban childhood that, unlike Mr Trump’s, many will recognise as similar to their own.

Mr DeSantis is expected to hold the kick-off rally for his 2024 campaign next week at Dunedin’s TB stadium, which the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team use for spring training.

In 2008, Barack Obama held a rally at the same venue, attracting 11,000 people.

Whether Dunedin will turn out in such numbers for its own famous son remains to be seen.

UN backs bill giving teens more access to sexual, reproductive health services

by newsinfo.inquirer.net Leave a Comment

CLASS DISCUSSION A teacher holds an in-person class for students of Navotas National High School in this photo taken in November 2022. The Department of Education is reviewing its K-12 curriculum as it aims to train more job-ready graduates. —LYN RILLON students enrolled

CLASS DISCUSSION A teacher holds an in-person class for students of Navotas National High School in this photo taken in November 2022. —LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in the Philippines is backing the bid for a law that aims to curb adolescent pregnancies in the country.

This is by giving teenagers access to sexual and reproductive health services without being discriminated against.

UNFPA is the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency.

On Thursday, it hailed the inching forward of the adolescent pregnancy prevention bill in the House of Representatives – “in light of the fact that teenage pregnancy was already declared a national social emergency.”

The proposed measure already secured the nod of the House committee on youth and sports development on Tuesday.

“UNFPA supports the pursuance of legislation that would expand the choices of adolescents to sexual and reproductive health services without discrimination,” UNFPA agency’s country representative Dr. Leila Saiji Joudane said in a statement.

She pointed out adolescent pregnancy is still among the biggest challenges faced by Filipino youth.

“UNFPA is looking forward to seeing the adolescent pregnancy bill approved by both chambers of Congress and enacted into law,” Joudane said.

She noted UNFPA is also closely following the developments of the bill’s counterpart in the Senate, which is awaiting second reading at the plenary.

Among the recommendations made by the agency in Congress deliberations on the proposed measure is the enhanced provision of Comprehensive Sexuality Education for children and adolescents (CSE).

According to UNFPA, CSE “enables young people to protect and advocate for their health, well-being, and dignity by providing them with a necessary tool kit of knowledge, attitudes, and skills.”

UNFPA is also pushing to give adolescents access to sexual and reproductive health services without parental consent.

Joudane said there is no evidence to show that access to contraception boosts adolescents’ sexual activity.

She cited data that deemed ineffective “an abstinence-only approach” to adolescent pregnancy.

“Programs that combine a focus on delaying sexual initiation with proper information on contraceptive use are more successful.

That is why it is important to accelerate the rollout of CSE nationally – to provide correct information to adolescents which will allow them to make informed and responsible decisions on their health,” Joudane said.

RELATED STORIES:

Numbers fall but PH teen pregnancies persist, mirror economic, learning gaps

More teen births involve older fathers – PSA

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Lewis Road Improvements Underway In Limerick

by patch.com Leave a Comment

Traffic & Transit

The project includes the installation of a sidewalk, repaving, and stormwater control.

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Holly Herman , Patch Staff Verified Patch Staff Badge

LIMERICK, PA —Lewis Road improvement project started last week with a new sidewalk installed in front of Spring-Ford Area High School, Dan Kerr, township manager said at Tuesday night’s township meeting.

The work is continuing this week with the widening of the Lewis Road.

The residents along Lewis Road have been notified and an updated schedule will be sent out next week.

The project consists of the installation of a sidewalk on the east side, curbing, and stormwater control measures from South Limerick Road to the Spring-Ford High School.

The project will continue throughout the summer, concluding with PennDOT performing a repaving of the majority of Lewis Road.

No travel restrictions are anticipated during the upgrade of Lewis Road.

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