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Upper Darby School Board elects officers, receives clean audit and hears neighborhood complaint about student behavior
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Summary
At its organizational meeting the Upper Darby School District board elected Neil Desnoiers president and Desiree Murphy Morrissey vice president, heard a Baker Tilly audit reporting an unmodified opinion for 2023–24, recognized staff, and received one emailed public complaint about students congregating off-campus.
Neil Desnoiers was elected president of the Upper Darby School District Board of School Directors and Desiree Murphy Morrissey was chosen vice president during the board's organizational meeting, which also included a presentation of a clean audit for the 2023–24 fiscal year and a public complaint about student behavior in a neighborhood alley.
The board opened with statutory notices under Section 401 of the School Code of 1949 and proceeded to elect a temporary president, then to roll-call votes for officers. In the vote for president, board member Britney Williams recorded an abstention; the remaining recorded members voted in the affirmative and the chair announced Desnoiers as president for the coming year. By vocal tally and cast-name votes, Murphy Morrissey was declared vice president.
Caroline Hippel, partner at audit firm Baker Tilly, presented the annual financial statement audit for the year ending June 30, 2024. Hippel said the auditors issued "an unmodified" opinion on the financial statements, reported no audit adjustments or management corrections, and issued an unmodified uniform grant opinion for compliance with federal grant standards. She also noted the district still had about $8,000,000 of ESSER funds remaining and that federal grant auditing would continue.
"No audit adjustments, no corrections for management," Hippel said, summarizing the results and describing the unmodified opinion as "the highest level of assurance you can get." The presentation described the main sections of the report (auditor's opinion, management's discussion and analysis, core financial statements, footnotes and compliance sections) and invited board members to review the full 75‑page statements available to the public.
Board members thanked the audit team and praised the district's financial controls. Director Worsavage acknowledged the district remains "underfunded by a drastic amount" while commending administrators for carefully stewarding taxpayer dollars.
The meeting also included several routine actions: adoption of the minutes from the Nov. 12, 2024 meeting; approval of secretary, treasurer, instruction and curriculum, personnel, facilities, donation, and finance and budget reports; and first readings of eight policies. The board carried a second-reading update to Policy 323 on tobacco and vaping products to correct prior omissions tied to PA Act 33 of 2023.
Student representatives Tasneen Yasmin and Timothy Bichu delivered the December student report, describing a visit to Bywood Elementary and highlighting programs such as the "bilingual buddies" peer mentoring initiative, classroom safety practices and teacher-led behavior-management strategies.
No members of the public spoke in person; the board received one emailed public comment from Melissa Harris of 819 Windermere Avenue. Harris wrote that "3 weeks over, 100 of your students were in my back driveway right after school lets out and they were shouting and jumping up and down on residents' cars ... The police were called ... This isn't the first time your students have been in our back alley." The board acknowledged the submitted comment; the transcript records no further action or public response at the meeting.
The board fixed its 2025 meeting schedule (generally the second and fourth Tuesday with stated exceptions for June, December and one April committee meeting) and directed the board secretary to post and advertise the calendar. President Desnoiers said he would defer appointments of liaison representatives and committee co-chairs until January.
The meeting closed with the presentation of the Unsung Hero Award recognizing school social workers for "dedication, compassion and tireless commitment," and a recognition of Julie Kiley for 25 years of service. The session adjourned and the board moved into the scheduled work session.
What happens next: the board will post the adopted 2025 meeting calendar and will bring forward policies listed for first reading when they return for action; no further response to the submitted public comment was recorded in the transcript.
