West Chester Area School District board elects 2025 leaders, retains solicitor and adopts 2025 governance schedule

The West Chester Area School District board elected Director Fleming as president and Director Bevilacqua as vice president, approved retaining the law firm Unruh, Turner, Burke and Freese as district solicitor at hourly rates stated in the motion, readopted existing board policies and approved the board's 2025 meeting schedule and standing committee assignments during an organization meeting where no regular legislative business was conducted and no resident comments were received.

The board opened the meeting to organize leadership for the coming year and first confirmed a temporary presiding officer by voice vote before proceeding with nominations and elections. Nominations for president and vice president were made from the floor; both elections were approved by voice vote with no roll-call tallies entered into the record.

The board approved a motion to retain Unruh, Turner, Burke and Freese as the district solicitor. The motion, as stated on the record, set hourly rates "1.95 per hour for partners and for council attorneys, 1.80 an hour for associate attorneys, and 1.05 per hour for [term in transcript: 'power labels']." The motion carried on a voice vote. The transcript appears to contain a transcription or typographical error in the stated rates and in the final term; the motion text above reflects the wording used in the meeting record.

Trustees also approved the board meeting schedule for January through December 2025, to be held at the Spelman Education Center Boardroom, 782 Springdale Drive, Exton, Pa., "unless posted and published otherwise," and directed that the schedule be advertised as required in the local paper. The board readopted the board's existing policies, rules and guidelines to remain in effect until the next organization meeting in December 2025.

The board adopted four standing committees for 2025: Teaching, Learning and Equity; Policy; Property and Finance; and Personnel. The board president will appoint members to those committees under board policy 5. On the record, the board listed committee memberships for 2025 as follows (verbatim from the meeting transcript):

- Teaching, Learning and Equity: Director Durnell, Dr. Laura Ditry, Dr. Karen Herman, Director Frey, with Director Durnell serving as chair. - Policy Committee: Directors Bevilacqua, Christie, Ditry, and Wamsley, with Director Ditry as chair. - Property and Finance: Directors Bevilacqua, Christie, Parkinson, and Wamsley, with Director Bevilacqua as chair. - Personnel Committee: Directors Jarnell, Fry, Herman, and Parkinson, with Director Parkinson as chair.

The organization meeting included routine procedural motions (nominations, voice votes and confirmations). There were no public comments and no substantive policy or budget items were taken up; the board adjourned after completing organizational appointments.

Actions at a glance: - Elected Director Fleming as board president (voice vote; outcome: elected). - Elected Director Bevilacqua as vice president (voice vote; outcome: elected). - Approved retaining Unruh, Turner, Burke and Freese as district solicitor with hourly rates stated on the record (voice vote; outcome: approved). - Adopted the 2025 board meeting schedule at the Spelman Education Center Boardroom (voice vote; outcome: approved). - Readopted existing board policies, rules and guidelines through December 2025 (voice vote; outcome: approved). - Adopted standing committees and announced committee memberships for 2025 (voice vote; outcome: approved).

All formal motions reported in the meeting were carried by voice vote; the transcript does not record roll-call vote tallies.

The meeting record shows no public comment and no requests for further staff reports or follow-up on substantive district matters. The board adjourned after completing organization items.