Receiver, administrators present balanced budget and accept fact-finder recommendations; wide approvals follow at Chester-Upland receivers meeting

Receiver Nichols opened a June 18 public receivers meeting for the Chester-Upland School District and amended the agenda to add an action item to accept the recommendations of a fact-finding report related to contract negotiations. The amendment noted an extension for professional services contracts was under review and would be considered separately.

Superintendent Dr. Ming (as identified in district materials) delivered an end-of-year report highlighting staff recognition, community donations, and student supports. The presentation noted extended-school-year (ESY) dates of July 7'31 (Monday'Thursday, 8:30 a.m. ' 2 p.m.) and reported the district had 162 students reported as displaced and 2,40 graduates for 2025 across the district's announcements.

Paul Ammon, identified as an accounting specialist in the district business office, presented the finance update and said the proposed budget is balanced and that the district reduced the weighted tax-rate increase in the proposal from a previously considered maximum of 6.3% to 3.26%. Ammon described several drivers and adjustments: payment of past-due obligations that reduced a $2.3 million line item, additional grant awards since the initial proposal, consolidation of transportation contracts (an estimated near-30% cost reduction), and staffing changes that aimed to limit the personnel cost increase to roughly 1%.

On student enrollment and expenditures, Ammon said charter-school costs represent a significant portion of spending; his presentation listed about 3,758 charter-school students compared with roughly 2,600 students enrolled in district-operated schools. He also noted that roughly 75% of projected revenue is from state and grant funding, with local real estate taxes covering about 10%.

During public comment, Patricia Dean Miranda of the Tripley Foundation requested the district consider naming the STEM schools'soccer fields after her son, William Tripley; Receiver Nichols said an MOU had been submitted by board members and was under review. Caitlin Murtaugh, president of the Chester Education Association, criticized the district's bargaining proposals, saying negotiators rejected nonfinancial proposals meant to boost morale and that the district's proposals would increase costs for employees: she said for a teacher on a family health plan the district's proposal would add about $5,700 in out-of-pocket costs.

Chief Whitaker summarized security improvements made during the 2024'25 school year, including staff training, visitor-management kiosks tied to state registries, issuance of new radios, threat-assessment teams in each building, and expanded use of the Safe2Say hotline and Pennsylvania Department of Education bullying protocol.

After presentations and public comment, the receiver moved forward with action items. The meeting record shows the board/receiver approved the minutes from May 22, 2025 and then recorded approval of agenda items across departments as follows: Education agenda items A1'A17 approved; Personnel agenda items B1 and B2 approved (B2 was the fact-finder recommendations item added at the start of the meeting); Business-office agenda items C1'C23 approved. The meeting record shows the actions were approved as presented.

The receiver closed the meeting by inviting further dialogue with teachers and community members and stressing the administration's focus on student safety and financial stability as the district continues recovery work.