Board approves course changes, facility repairs, personnel actions and website redesign
Summary
At the Nov. 17 meeting the Unionville-Chadds Ford board approved five curriculum items (PE, music, business, AP English), authorized facility and communications contracts, and passed personnel and finance resolutions; most votes were unanimous.
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School District board approved a package of routine and programmatic items on Nov. 17 following a presentation by district staff.
Curriculum - The board approved middle-school physical education revisions (Item 4.1) to introduce tiered options across grades 6–8 and a modified health offering for life-skills students (vote 9–0). - High-school health and PE course changes (Item 4.2) were approved, including proposed new courses such as "net & racket," "lifelong leisure sports," "outdoor experience" and "unified PE" (vote 9–0). - UHS will add three business/computer-apps courses for 2026–27 (Item 4.3): AP Business and Personal Finance, AP Cybersecurity and a cooperative-education course tied to student jobs (vote 9–0). - Music department changes (Item 4.4) were approved: combine Music Theory 1 and 2 into a yearlong course, add a semester course "History of Rock," and discontinue "Fundamentals of Music" due to declining enrollment (vote 9–0). - The board approved adding 11 optional novels to the 12th-grade AP English reading list (Item 4.5); the motion passed with an 8–0–1 tally (eight yes, zero no, one abstention).
Facilities and communications - The board approved a $16,182 cost proposal from Aluminum Athletic Equipment Company to replace the UHS stadium safety netting (Item 6.1). Existing poles will remain; the nets and cables will be replaced from long-range facilities funds (vote 9–0). - The board approved a website redevelopment contract with FinalSite (FinalSight in presentation) for a one-time cost of $22,525; the project is expected to take ~18 weeks and emphasize accessibility and user experience (Item 8.1, vote 9–0).
Personnel and student activities - Personnel items 7.1–7.12 were approved as presented (vote 9–0). - The board approved two overnight student trips: the UHS ski-club trip to Sugarbush, Vermont (Feb. 19–22, 2026) and an indoor color guard regional trip to New York (both votes 9–0). Staff said most costs will be borne by participants and existing budgets cover chaperone stipends.
Finance and audit - The board approved a resolution authorizing the superintendent (Doctor Hoffman) to electronically sign eGrants as presented (Item 11.1, vote 9–0). Board members also noted a preliminary audit report will be presented in January with a potential reallocation of assigned to unassigned fund balance for board consideration.
Each of the approved items was moved and seconded on the record; votes and tallies recorded in the meeting minutes are summarized above. For full item descriptions and supporting documents, BoardDocs houses the detailed presentations and attachments referenced in the meeting.
