West Chester Area SD board approves new assistant director position for teaching, learning and equity

The West Chester Area School District Board of Directors voted Feb. 24 to approve a new position and job description for an Assistant Director of Teaching, Learning and Equity.

Dr. Brown, who presented the proposal to the board’s personnel committee, asked the board to add the assistant director post to support professional development, instructional coaches and vertical K‑12 curriculum alignment. "I respectfully request the addition of an assistant director of teaching learning equity," Dr. Brown said during the meeting.

Board members asked a clarifying question about the appointment’s term. "It's a 12 month position. You mean they work 12 months instead of 10 months. It's not a renewed position. It's just a full time position," Dr. Brown responded, clarifying that the role is a continuing full‑time, year‑round staff position rather than a one‑year appointment.

Director Parkinson moved to approve the new job description and position; Director Bevilacqua seconded. The motion passed on a voice vote. The meeting record does not include a numerical rollcall tally for that vote.

The personnel committee had reviewed the job description at its Feb. 18 meeting and recommended the item for board approval. The committee report said the assistant director would help expand professional development, support structural and instructional coaches, and work on vertically aligned curriculum across elementary, middle and high school levels.

The vote to establish the position was one of several routine actions the board completed at the Feb. 24 meeting, including approval of minutes, personnel recommendations and the consent agenda.

What this means: The new assistant director position creates a dedicated administrative role to manage professional learning and coach support across the district. Administrative materials presented at the committee meeting describe the post as full time and year‑round; funding and assignment to a specific department were discussed in committee materials but no additional appropriation or budget amendment was recorded in the board motion that approved the job description.

Votes at a glance - Approval: New job description and position — Assistant Director of Teaching, Learning and Equity. Mover: Director Parkinson; second: Director Bevilacqua. Outcome: Approved (voice vote; numerical tally not specified in the minutes). - Approval: Personnel recommendations for Feb. 24, 2025 (hires, resignations, retirements, sabbaticals, supplemental contracts). Outcome: Approved (voice vote; numerical tally not specified). - Approval: Consent agenda for Feb. 24, 2025. Outcome: Approved (voice vote; numerical tally not specified). - Approval: Minutes from the Jan. 27, 2025 board meeting. Outcome: Approved (voice vote; numerical tally not specified).

Board materials and committee reports released with the meeting packet list additional committee actions that were informational or recommended for future board consideration, including special education service contracts, the 2025–26 calendar final read, contracts for professional development (Rocket PD) and a contract to support development of a “portrait of a graduate.” Those items were reported out by the Teaching, Learning and Equity committee and are slated for follow‑up according to committee minutes.

The board did not adopt any ordinance, resolution number, or borrowing authorization on Feb. 24; however, the Property & Finance Committee reported a recommended financing plan to seek approximately $30,000,000 of new money in spring 2025 for elementary renovation projects and to prepare a parameter resolution for general obligation bonds (that recommendation will be considered in a future board action).