The Resignation of Coatesville Area School District Superintendent & Asst Superintendent

This is the third petition calling for the resignations of Dr. Cathy Taschner and Dr. Kim Donahue. 

In January 2014, Susquehanna Township's Community formed a petition asking for their resignation. Sadly, reading the comments on the petition, you can see they are in many cases identical concerns to ours: STSD'S PETITION (although the petition is closed, you may still read it by clicking on "read petition" under the title.)

In 2016, Alphonso Newsuan created a petition for their resignation with 590 supports, but unfortunately, too many people bought into the façade and could not see what others saw during this time. 

Which bring us to the petition Newsuan created July 4th weekend. This petition has garnered even support, by tripling the signatures from the 2016 petition. At the time of publication, the petition had 1591 signatures, which supersedes even the petition that Ann Wuerts had created back in 2013 that demanded "that the retirement request not be voted upon until the scheduled School Board meeting after any and all internal and external investigations are completed, both have met their contractual obligations and have been cleared of any wrongdoing" (since then the petition has been removed).

Once again the comments reveal that under Dr. Taschner's and Dr. Donahue's leadership, the concerns are the same and growing in intensity.  We acknowledge that we are unable to confirm that all signatures are those in the CASD community. However, it stands to reason that those who are signing are supporting their family and friends in the district based on concerns expressed by those impacted. Regardless of this, those from CASD who signed and commented deserve to have their voices heard!

The community's signatures and comments, their voices at board meetings, the actions of employees leaving, and parents enrolling students elsewhere, it is obvious - We in the Coatesville Area School District have NO CONFIDENCE in the leadership of Dr. Cathy Taschner or Dr. Kim Donahue.

 “Because of the current Leadership, we have lost almost 1400 children to charter schools, catholic schools, private schools, and homeschooling. The subsequent cost has made our budget skyrocket. With the skyrocketing budget, our taxes have been raised by almost 20% in the last five years.

Because of this Leadership, we have lost almost 546 employees, and we're now seeing an uptick in home sales in our community. We are losing our tax base, along with good neighbors. Over 300 teachers and administrators have left in 5 years.
In the five years under the present Superintendent & Assistant Superintendent, we have not experienced substantial academic progress and have suffered rising disciplinary dysfunction in our school district.

In five years, we have spent over 1 billion dollars without any measurable goals or benchmarks being achieved. "Enough is Enough!"

 Here are the comments from those who signed:

Name	Comment
Alphonso Newsuan	I'm signing because Enough is Enough
Donald Messinger	She has been given 5 years to improve academics and unite the community and has failed horribly. Time for her and her Admin to move on and out
Kim Jones	"I'm signing because I'm sick and tired of our taxes skyrocketing without any return on our investment. Because people can no longer afford their homes because they simply can't afford these outrageous taxes. Because our children deserve a better education. Because Taschner and her posse are running a good community into the ground. Because kids with an IEP should get the specialized education they deserve. Her history is repeating itself. Our kids deserve better. We deserve better."
Barbara Donahue	"Enough is Enough! 5 years and no improvements. Just large legal expenses, expensive outsourcing of jobs, lack of discipline in schools with students and teachers leaving in droves. This must stop! And no Golden Parachute for this Superintendent when she gets the boot!"
Sam Jones	"The district spends millions of dollars on everything but education. It’s time to bring back the days when kids actually learned what they needed to get through life."
Wanda Serdich's	"All students have suffered emotional distress and denied FAPE under the ludicrous leadership of Cathy Taschner. Unsafe environments in our schools, Our special education, emotional support, Gifted students resources have been taken away they superintendent. Teachers are left trying to teach our students with no supports in place. Last minute board voting tactics have gotten superintendent to get things voted through. In fact everything is last minute: parents are left scrambling for before/after care. No solid plan yet. Not FREE as superintendent promised community just to get it voted through. Middle school merging is just an unorganized mess!! DO NOT ALLOW SUPERINTENDENT TO HAVE AUTHORITY TO HANDLE ANY ASPECT WITH BOARD APPROVAL, ESPECIALLY ANYTHING FINANCIAL!! Curriculum needs to be changed and voted upon by Teachers! Not decision of superintendent! It is public knowledge what kind of administration our district is being victim to. Current superintendent and her assistant have destroyed Susqueh"
Donal Anderson	Because our kids deserve the best."
Barbara Lowe	"Enough!"
Ashley Shattuck	"Enough is enough"
Dana Shultz	"Enough is enough"
Sharlene Stewart	"I want the best for my grandchildren"
Sharon Ross	"She is a bully and has taken this district backwards"
lori johns	"I am signing because our children and teachers deserve way better then what they've been getting. Clear the swamp!!!"
CorieSue Freeman	"My tax bill might force me out of my home."
K Mcc	"We got a change happening at the youth level that could lead to great success but under the current administration they will not succeed"
Brenda Clemson	"I believe in our students and demand they receive the best education we can give them. This administration is not doing it."
maria delphia	"I'm signing because this district has gone so far downhill, it’s unbelievable under her supervision. Our children are being affected in such a negative way. Their education, or lack thereof, has been at jeopardy as a result of poor leadership."
Michelle Gill	"Enough is enough!"
Todd Macgorvin	"Tired of the taxes"
Jon Kromer	"Enough is enough"
Lorraine March	"The decline of the school district is very evident under this superintendent. Along with the downward spiral is also deterioration of our communities due in part of the lack o discipline in the school when is needed and warranted. Many people can no longer afford to live here."
Allen Kyle	"I'm signing because as a property owner, enough is enough with the constant raising of our property taxes."
Evelyn Biamonte	"The school tax increases are way too much since we moved here almost 5 years ago!"
Danielle Bronson	"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Our children and teachers deserve better!"
Florence Mack	"I'm signing because the Coatesville district have truly declined under its current leadership. Taxes keep increasing but education is not improving and it seems like Taschner doesn't even care. Education is important and both teachers and students deserve so much better than what they've been getting."
Laurie Cook	"I’m angry with the destruction of this district. I grew up in this district and loved it. My 4 kids grew up in this district and loved it. The youngest graduated in 2013 and it has gone downhill ever since. I was an employee of this district from 2001 until the end of the 2016 school year. It was rapidly declining. It felt unsafe. I fear for my grandchildren now and if it continues as it is, will hope to see them in catholic school. How can we allow a tyrant like her to leave us in shambles? She needs to go NOW, along with her puppet Donahue."
Bryan Nagle	"I want a strong Coatesville community. This begins with a strong foundation through education. To get there, we need administrators who will be fiscally responsible with the community's tax money and apply it to proper educational programs, especially our special needs children. Too much of our money is tied up in legal fees due to improper or none at all programs that help the special needs community. This problem starts at the top of the school leadership. I feel the children are getting ripped off education and the tax payers of the community. I will find no further value in CASD especially if my taxes go up significantly again. I will take my family elsewhere."
Amber McFadden	"The rise in property taxes has not been justified with any benefits to the students and teachers. Enough is enough!"
JacknLori Kendra	"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Over 1000 students leave, hundreds of teachers and staff. Programs just ended. Lack of transparency, lack of planning, absence of leadership. Homeowners at the brink of losing their home due to astronomical tax increases that show no benefit. Thank you, next."
Rita Beach	"I have lived in my house for 24 years, my taxes are outrageous. SHE needs to go!"
Natalya Pogosova	"We need change!! We need leadership that understands that reaching into residents’ pockets year after year is not a sustainable plan."
Vero Lattanzi	"my kids arenin this district"
Lorri Stiebritz	"Tax increases are expected to be put in place to support the community in a positive way. These tax increases are due to an administrations inability to serve the community most notably the children and teachers. Students will continue to leave until there is a change which supports learning, accountability and discipline. Enough is enough."
Thomas Eells	"We need to regain control of our schools!"
Michael Mancuso	"This administration is not working and need to go."
Stephanie Jamison	"Our children are still small but we will be moving to Downingtown within the next few years if changes aren't made. As a Coatesville graduate, this hurts my heart-- but I do not like what I hear, what I've learned, and what I know to be true."
Katelyn Belnome	"She needs to frickin go."
armahn wallace	"It’s time to move forward."
Melissa LaPish	"She has taken ENOUGH from us over the last 5 years. She has taken ENOUGH from my kids, OUR kids. She has taken ENOUGH from our teachers. She has taken ENOUGH from our district. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!"
Craig Wolf	"This administration has been devastating to the district and community. Kids pulled to better and safer schools, teachers leaving to escape this dictatorship, families moving to just escape unjustified tax increases. My kids no longer go here and they will not return no matter how they rebrand this failure. 3 years ago I went through the reassessment process, and 2019 tax bill is as high as 2015 before the reassessment. Writing is on the walls here. She needs to be forced out of power, no buyout which they are waiting for."
Denise Souders	"Our students and school district need a change. Possibly working towards a better safer and closer community for our children."
Denise Melvin	"My kids go to CASH and there is no discipline in the schools, fights are always breaking out with no consequences!!"
Stephanie Kijak	"Spec Ed is a disaster with full inclusion and not the correct supports and Spec Ed training. Tax increases trying to maintain an unsustainable budget. The lack of transparency and ignoring the community."
Ed Prange	"New leadership needed ASAP. As one of the class of 73, I’m totally disappointed the direction our district has gone."
Naomi Campbell	"With the amount of money we pay for school taxes there is no reason we are having these issues. Need better leadership."
Nariyah Wilson	"I’m signing because I believe that they have done so much damage to our district. We need to take our district back... enough is enough."
Marie Lewis	"I brought 2 houses in Coatesville and they were millions under budget, no idea where it was, and raised taxes."
Courtney Schulz	"The board was wrong for extending Tashners contact. They knew then taxpayers we're not happy with this administration"
vernice davis	"When needed change in our school district"
Patti McComsey	"I signed because I am disgusted and embarrassed at what our schools look like -I can speak particularly about North Brandywine. Schools in other districts the same age as North look phenomenal in comparison. I am concerned for my daughter’s health with the unsanitary, asbestos filled, moldy rooms. The lack of discipline scares me EVERY day and if that doesn’t change this coming year adding the students from other schools, I will likely remover her from the district- the district that has educated many generations of my family. We HAVE to get it together"
Jean Mackey	"Jean Mackey(Time for a change)"
Joyce Gincley	"We have had enough! Tax increases are getting out of hand and the quality of our schools is going down the tube!"
Jennifer Marsh	"Time for sure"
Maria montanez	"We need to start investing more in our children's education and stop taking away from them. I'm signing as a mother of two young children who deserve the right to an education and the same education as the charter schools and private schools."
Taylor Finney	"Because nothing good has come out of them being here. We need someone that will LISTEN to our teachers and take what they say into serious consideration. I'm going into college to become a teacher. And I'd love to come back to Coatesville to teach, but I won't if this nonsense keeps up"
Cathy Zambuto	"So signing this! What has happened in this district, to my gifted child who suffers from anxiety, is criminal. I have a very long story that I will tell when I can. I can tell you this. I know teachers in West Chester, Downingtown, Avon Grove, and other school districts. What is ALLOWED to happen in this district makes their jaws drop. We switched schools last year. When asking my 3rd grade son what liked best about his new school he said "the bathrooms are really nice because everything works! The kids aren’t allowed to curse, especially at the teachers. They get in trouble for that here, and no one just gets up and runs out of the room “You might remember my daughter as the 5th grader that wrote the book Eclipse. It was read in all of the 5th grade classes in the district in 2017-2018. Tashner should remember. She attended the book signing. My daughter was denied gifted services after that. Shameful!!"
Paul Trizonis	"I'm signing as a tax payer and resident watching how inept this superintendent is with reckless disregard for the stakeholders and students of our district."
Bela Outraged	“It is shameful that "Trash-ner" even got hired. I googled her. Her record is horrible. One past district...10 years later.... is still trying to clean up the mess she left behind. Not to mention the RAPE cover-up she was involved with in that same district!!!! Did no one check her credentials?!? It is a travesty she is now our superintendent. She ignores the outcry from the community and students. We deserve respect. Something neither of them can give. Get them out ...we deserve BETTER"
Cherri Jones	"This administration is not working for the greater good of the students, teachers or the community! We’ve had Enough! Time for a change!"
Tina Simmers	"My husband and I cannot afford to have taxes raised like this and we can't afford to move. We have no kids in school but hear the horror stories that come out of there...smh"
gloria rowe	"Something needs to be done"
Dana Rambo DiDomenico	"They continue to raise my property taxes every year. They obviously cannot do their job. They are taxing us out of our homes."
William Acker Jr	"Absolutely � I feel the same don’t even have grandchildren in school. Taxes are bullshit ���"
Hannah LaRue	"I’m signing because I deserve to be respected as a gifted student in my last two years of high school, and my teachers deserve to be cared for by the administration."
Pamela Sigg	"CASD offices have a history of the mismanagement of public funds and this has not improved with this Administration. Vendors don't want to do business with the district because they have to wait months for repayment and the Facilities Dept. limps along to try to keep up repairs and other important maintenance with a very reduced workforce. Citizens must live on a budget according to their income why can't CASD manage the tax money appropriately??"
Amy DiMaio	"I am signing because this school district needs to change!"
Jen Kofroth	"Get her out!"
rick King	"taxes are crazy"
Kelli Cooley-Davis	We need families to stay in the area, so we can make Coatesville great again."
Earl Rissel	"What Pennsylvania needs is to drop the School Property Tax and get passed HB/SB-76. This bill will fund the schools and keep seniors in their homes. HB/SB-76 bill has been checked by the auditors to completely fund the school systems without any cuts to the budget. With it everyone even out of state people will be funding our schools."
Dawn Hayes	"My children need a safe environment. They are afraid. Right now both of my girls are in cyber school. They are missing out on the social aspect of school. Safety is the number one issue."
Felicia Rivers	"The CASD has lost the confidence of students, teachers, and the community. Lack of academic progress, discipline, and responsiveness to change has led to student and teacher flight. The resulting negative economic impacts have led to exorbitant tax hikes. Criticism has been met with defensiveness and broken relationships with the community. We need a fresh perspective with plans that will resolve the issues, not ignore them."
Katie Lucas	"Stop raising our taxes without raising school scores!"
Pat Ciarlone	"I care for the teachers and children of CASD."
Lydia Rissel	"I know how Cathy Tascher treats some of her employees. She is bad news. Had done nothing good for the taxpayers."
Jason Charron	"Our children deserve better from our schools and as a property owner I’m seeing my school taxes continually go up while school conditions go down."
Jennifer Amour	"I pulled my children out of CASD 4 years ago and sent them to Catholic school because I didn’t have confidence in CASD administration. I pay insane taxes for a school district that I feel we can’t use. It costs me money in taxes, tuition, and the value of my home and I am tired of it."
Jessica Castaldi	"I am signing because I had 3 kids graduate from Coatesville and 1 graduating this year. I also have a 1st grader and a kindergartener this coming year, sadly there will go to Collegium. The district is not what it used to be. Discipline is lacking, there are no consequences at all, if a child skips class or never goes to school -they still graduate! I know because I have one of these students. Taxes are ridiculous for pretty much a day camp instead of a learning environment. Kids need to learn more than academics, learning starts with a system of respect, consequences and rule following. Our students will fail miserably in the real world if the district continues to run as it is."
Deborah Cahill	"Praying this district will turn around so my children move closer to home with my grandchildren and our home values go back up."
Kimberly carpenter	"We need change"
Kerry Squillante	"It’s disgusting how high our school taxes are & how they’re run!"
Ladislao Buljevich	"Not only I we pay more taxes. I have to also pay for descent education for my son. They are double dipping my pocket. Enough!"
Ami Belcher Winston	"Because I am committed to the education of children."
Kelly Kelly	"I’ve heard enough, seen enough and experienced enough. It’s time for change."
William Ridgway	"I’m tired of watching the school superintendent drive the district into the ground all while raising our taxes. She must go."
Mary Morris	"I’m so tired of the lack of discipline and special education. She destroyed the district period! How else do you explain the mass exodus of students, teachers, staff, and school psychologists? If we were doing well why would this occur? It’s a no brained got to get rid of the failure!"
Holly Charest	"I’m signing because our district is in shambles and our children deserve better"
Suzanne Bell	"Because I do not support her policies and procedures. They have seriously damaged CASD and just like all of the other districts she has worked for."
Dione Johnson	"My children graduated from Cash and family still attend schools in the district."
Michael Bell	"I have seen hurt kids and community every were the gym teacher (Dr T) has worked she just has to go way"
Terry Givler	"I'm tired of being taxed to death to pay for her lawyer fees to cover her inability to perform her job. She screws every school district she puts her hands on. Time for big changes or it just might be time to move out of the district to stop throwing money at broken system."
Julie Martin	"I’m signing to support my sister her family and friends"
Emily Decker	"I’m signing for my 1 year old son. We are sick of hearing about how bad the Coatesville schools are!"
Kristina Lapsker	"Because they ruined my child's education. He hated school. And begged not to go in 3rd grade. Straight A student, 22 absences told he was reading 2 grades above. Well switched school and he is reading below average and as it turns out has a vision impairment. My child used to live school until it became a boring and miserable experience."
Harry Keares	"She knows why! Absolutely unfair that she hold up a 2 Time unanimous Vote for a project that would only benefit the tax payers and students. Time is up, you want to do something bring back the Solar contract."
Jamie Barnes	"I have family constantly negatively affected in this district. The fights I read about are horrifying. I do however blame A LOT of the parents also... A school that can't even protect its own students is a major tragedy. Teachers or aides are not allowed to intervene during altercations, because so many parents say, don't you dare touch my child. So these beatings are permitted to carry on.. and on.. and on.. Until law enforcement arrives. I think parents need to step up, not just to support the resignation of this tyrant, but to encourage their children, that violence is NOT the answer. Teach them morals, even if they don't see their friends implementing them. Get them off the streets before the eve grows dangerous. Monitor who your child is hanging out with, don't just be a drop and go parent. Learn their friend’s family. Everyone is so filled with community these days, and that it takes a village...  communicate and make a difference."
Davida Washington	"I am sick of my school district being in disarray. We can do better!!"
Cathy Wentz	"Enough is Enough"
Tara Armento	"Signing for my parents"
Steven Valente	"Terrible leadership"
lori poole	"Change is needed for our kids! Put the kids and their education first!"
Amy McFarland	"I’m signing because a true leader doesn’t repeat mistakes . . . Especially at the expense of children’s education & futures. Our youth & community deserve better!
Deborah Armour	Our Schools need new leadership
Audrey Fiedler	Too many of my dear friends have decided to stop attending that school leaving them the only option to do cyber - which is not ideal. It’s getting out of control. The mental stability and future of these kids are in jeopardy. Do something.
Cameron Boldaz	I signed because of the terrible Math program “CPM”. It was the worst and most useless class I have ever taken in school. It needs to go. Same as the 2 who put it in place.
CJ Brown	Teachers need a say in things even when they’re not allowed to. I talked too many of them and I will help them as much as I possibly can no matter what they need.
Dylan Nichols	She’s trash
Holly Poulos	Holly M. Poulos, taxpayer and homeowner of 2nd home in Coatesville for personal use.
Lindsay Walsh	The Coatesville area school district has so much potential to be better than how it’s been ran and treated. We are losing teachers, programs, and respect! this administration is to blame
Alex Thomas	Ran the school into the ground
Joshua Saldana	I'm signing because I've seen this district go downhill from the inside. I'm in 12th grade and have younger siblings. Kings highway used to be a calm quiet school. But that changed when Taschner came and mixed kids that might need a little extra assistance with everyone else. When doing this they didn't provide good help for these students causing Kings highway to become a mad house.