Downingtown Area SD board hears budget update, signs off on contracts and facility work

The Downingtown Area School District Board of School Directors reviewed a district budget update and approved a slate of consent and action items at its meeting, including facility repairs and a reduced software renewal for the coming school year.

Board Vice President Houghton presided. Superintendent-level staff opened the meeting with a financial briefing and turned the update over to Brian, a district staff member, who said, "The one big thing is, the title funds that we talked about, we will be receiving now. That that was the, $256,368." Brian also told the board that K–12 base, special-education and adequacy funding currently appear likely to be fully funded but that the district had budgeted for only half; if the full amounts are approved as discussed, the district could receive about an additional $500,000. He said the state had not yet approved a budget and that district receipts could be delayed through August.

The budget update was the principal discussion item. The board received schedule reminders as part of the superintendent's report: bus driver return and training dates and the start of classes, with teachers scheduled to return Aug. 19 and students scheduled to begin Aug. 25. New-teacher orientation was noted for Aug. 13.

On consent items, the board approved routine renewals and contracts used by academic and special-education programs, including renewals for EverWay News-2-You and Unique Learning Systems, Pro Ed Edmark curriculum, a contract with Laurie Vanderbilt LLC for Wilson Reading Services and a renewal with Beth Ann Soneli for the 2025-26 school year. The board also approved disposal and sale of items from school buildings and license renewals intended to support K–8 dismissal and attendance operations.

On software licensing, the board approved a renewal for IXL at a dollar amount of $39,900 for the 2025-26 school year. District staff said the IXL line represents a large reduction from the prior year's IXL costs (described in the meeting as "in the neighborhood of $140,000, 252") because the district shifted elementary students to i-Ready and intends to limit IXL to grades 7'10 for ELA. Staff said the shift eliminated duplicative products and that the district has been tracking eliminated software in annual board updates.

Facilities and capital items approved or discussed include:
- A purchase order to CM3 Building Services (Fort Washington) for replacement of up to 18 variable-air-volume (VAV) box controllers at Lionville Elementary School for $46,800 under a CoStars contract. Mister Harper, a facilities staff member, explained: "There are variable air volume boxes, HVAC equipment that controls individual rooms. There's 18 of these devices connected to 1 air handler... This is the replacement for up to 18 rooms in Lionville Elementary School." Board members asked whether the district will inventory similar aging units across other buildings and staff said a facilities condition assessment is forthcoming.
- A change order for Lobar, the general contractor on the Beavercreek expansion, for $188,800.84 to adjust front entrance grading and sidewalks so water is diverted away from the building. Staff said the cost will come from project contingency funds and that the district plans to pursue a claim against the design team (named in the meeting as Fadavia) for design errors or omissions after the project closes out.
- Purchase approval for a dishwasher for Marsh Creek Sixth Grade Center (model to be determined).

Other items approved or reported:
- Approval of an immutable data backup service renewal through the Chesconet consortium for a two-year term at an annual cost the board reported as $25,500; the item was listed in the consent agenda and a board member questioned whether it should be moved to action because of the district's $25,000 voting threshold.
- Finance items including approval of depositories and personnel authorized to act on district investments; exoneration of 2025-26 school taxes on Parcel 40040015.01 in the amount of $2,274.71 after Chester County acquired the parcel for trail extension; and approval of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP to provide auditing services for fiscal years 2024-25 through 2026-27 as the firm acquired Withum's state and local government practice.
- The district will not renew a proposed agreement with Advanced Protection Company for athletic-event security after the vendor said it could not meet staffing needs; the district will continue with Cardinal and STS for security services.
- Personnel report items were submitted, including a resolution to dismiss two employees as discussed in executive session; the report was included as a consent item.
- Actions involving special-education placements and settlements: approval of a tuition agreement with The Timothy School for a named DASD student and multiple settlement agreements and releases with parents of DASD students (student numbers were recorded in the meeting record). The meeting record lists student identifiers for these items.

Board discussion stressed fiscal prudence and attention to contract and facilities oversight moving into the new school year. The meeting concluded with announcements of upcoming public meeting dates in the James E. Watson Staff Development Room.

Votes at a glance: Because this meeting recorded routine consent and action approvals without roll-call tallies in the transcript, the board recorded approvals for the consent package and the action items described above; specific vote tallies or recorded nay/abstain counts were not specified in the transcript.