Chester County Intermediate Unit proposes $364 million budget; Coatesville sees tuition and service increases

Dr. George Fiore, executive director of the Chester County Intermediate Unit (CCIU), and Joe Lubitzky, the IU's director of administrative services, presented the IU's proposed 2024–25 budgets to the Coatesville Area School District finance committee, describing a multi-part plan that totals just north of $364 million and that officials said is driven largely by growth in special-education and student-services demand.

Fiore said the IU will present four separate budgets: a core services budget that districts vote on by weighted vote, an occupational education budget that districts adopt by June 30, a marketplace budget of optional programs districts may opt into, and categorical (state and federal) budgets. He described the full proposal as “a little north of $364,000,000.”

The IU said early intervention and preschool special-education caseloads have risen sharply since COVID, with presenters citing an aggregate increase of about 1,000 preschool/early-intervention students in the region over recent months. To add capacity, presenters described two capital projects: renovation of the Fred S. Engle campus in Avon Grove (opening as the Engle Education Center in West Grove in mid‑2025) and construction of an 87,000-square-foot Child and Career Development Center in Great Valley (Malvern) to serve roughly 200 students with multiple disabilities. Fiore said the Engle renovation will add accessible entrances, an elevator and new playground space, and Lubitzky said the Great Valley site will be designed and built specifically for students with complex needs rather than retrofitting existing space.

Lubitzky outlined the four budget pieces numerically: a core services budget proposed at about $41.2 million, an occupational-education budget at roughly $34.5 million and a marketplace services portfolio — the largest piece — with about 127 programs and a projected combined total near $260 million. He told the committee that the IU was proposing a 4% increase in the occupational-education tuition rate (to $11,188 for a half‑time student, if approved) and an average 3.87% increase across marketplace service prices, while noting many individual prices would remain flat.

At the committee meeting Lubitzky said school districts together are charged only about $600,000 of the core budget; in his presentation he said the Coatesville Area School District's share of the core budget “will remain flat at about $4,746,000” under the IU formula. Later in the same committee meeting the motion materials recorded for the finance committee vote listed the CCIU core services budget at $41,280,072 and — in what appears to be a different figure on the handout — a Coatesville “projected contribution” of $46,924. The committee approved moving the CCIU core and occupational budgets to the full board agenda; the discrepancy between the presenters’ slide and the committee motion paperwork was noted during discussion but not resolved in the meeting transcript.

The IU representatives told the committee that categorical (federal and state) funding streams currently provide nearly $29 million in the IU's budget and that federal grants remain a monitored risk. Lubitzky said the IU has received nearly $26 million in competitive grant awards through February in recent years and that federal grant funding could be vulnerable if federal priorities change.

Committee members asked about practical impacts for Coatesville students. Board members and staff pressed the IU presenters on transportation times for students placed outside the district; Fiore said renovation and new construction will reduce long bus rides for preschool special‑education students. Questions also touched on marketplace service participation and on how the IU manages debt service tied to the Engle and Great Valley projects.

The finance committee voted to move the following IU items to the full board agenda (committee action only): the CCIU core services budget, the CCIU occupational education budget, and the IU marketplace budget materials, along with related budget resolutions. Presenters told the committee the full IU board would adopt the marketplace budget next Wednesday and that member districts typically vote their occupational-education budgets by June 30.

Why it matters: The IU budget funds specialized programs — special education, career and technical education, early intervention and shared administrative services — used by all Chester County districts. The IU's expansion plans aim to reduce out-of‑county placements and travel time, but they increase capital and operating commitments in the near term and will affect Coatesville's tuition bills for occupational programs and the district's participation choices for optional marketplace services.

Ending: The finance committee did not adopt the IU budgets as final district policy; it voted to move the IU budget items to the full board agenda for formal action. IU staff said they will present final marketplace figures to the IU board next week and that districts will vote on occupational tuition and district‑charged contributions as part of the standard spring budget cycle.