Banner shows deep pride remains in CASD

Dr. Leonard Fitts, Interim Superintendent (left), Paul Draper, Senior Class Representative, and (right) J. Neil Campbell, Board of School Directors’ President, sign the banner Monday night. Banner signed by students, staff and community members to hang in all district schools CALN — To say it’s been a stormy period for the Coatesville Area School District might be an understatement. But...

Brandywine Center hosts holiday social, Dec. 5

Coatesville Area School District students to provide entertainment COATESVILLE – Residents of The Brandywine Center, a senior affordable housing community in in the heart of the city will be hosting “Home For The Holidays” Christmas Social on this Thursday, Dec. 5 at 6 PM at The Brandywine Center Kay Conference Room. The event will feature music, a visit from Santa, and catering by ...

CASD board continues to disrespect citizens

Tirade by Joe Dunn sadly typifies group’s overall tenor  By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times Few jobs on the planet are as thankless as serving on a school board, a duty that routinely subjects members to all manner of vitriol. In fact, when school district operations go smoothly, those folks rarely hear a peep from constituents; so even the good times go unrewarded. Of course,...

School board approves purchase of $2.8M Citadel Building

Amidst shouting and name-calling, board passes motion for new admin building By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times Upset during public comment, Board Member Rick Fox turns his back to the speaker. CALN – The Coatesville Area School District Board of Education voted to purchase the Citadel Building at a special meeting held at the 9/10 Center Tuesday night.

CASD board calls special meeting to buy admin building

$2.8 million Caln office building would offices, health clinic for employees The Coatesville Area School District Board of Education called a special meeting for Tuesday to purchase this $2.8 million office building to replace the Benner Administration building and house a new district health care center. By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times CALN — The Coatesville Area School District appears poised...

New school board members plan ahead as others await results

Deets, Thompson ready for action while Region III results yet to be tallied By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times COATESVILLE – Though voting took place on Tuesday, Coatesville residents may not know the final results of the 2013 school board elections for up to a month. In Region III, incumbent Laurie Knecht appears to have won reelection, getting 1,098 votes. However, 1,753 write-in votes have...

CASD appoints Dr. Leonard Fitts as interim superintendent

Fitts says he looks forward to working with diversity, opening communications By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times New Interim Superintendent Dr. Leonard Fitts speaks to the administrators, staff, and citizens present at Tuesday’s press conference. CALN – The Coatesville Area School District School Board announced the appointment of Dr. Leonard Fitts as interim superintendent at a press...

Letter: CASD board member addresses CCIU issue

To The Editor, I want to correct a number of misconceptions surrounding the School Board’s decision to not engage the CCIU in our search for a Superintendent.  The following represents my opinion and has not been endorsed by either the Board or the District. The Board had, in fact, anticipated utilizing the services of the CCIU in our search.  However, during our interview with them, CCIU personnel...

CASD hires firm to investigate potential obstructions of justice

Conrad O’Brien to look into claims Ellison stalled DA’s probe By Kyle Carrozza, Staff Writer, The Times CALN – The Coatesville Area School Board voted to hire the law firm Conrad O’Brien to investigate potential instances of board solicitor James Ellison obstructing the district attorney’s ongoing investigation of the school district at its meeting on Tuesday night. The decision...

Op/Ed: Lessons from CASD: School policies can promote a culture of discrimination

By Solomon Hunter and Rhonda Brownstein, The Education Law Center When one or two individuals in an organization blatantly act out in discriminatory ways, it’s easy to imagine that dealing with those individuals, primarily by removing them from the organization, solves the problem. The message, often, is that these individuals were outliers and in no way reflect the views of other members of the...