Phoenixville Area School District

School district in Pennsylvania

The Phoenixville Area School District (PASD) is a public school district headquartered in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania.^[1] The current superintendent is Mrs. Missy McTiernan.

Located in Chester County, PASD serves Phoenixville, East Pikeland Township and Schuylkill Township.^[2] The district contains six schools: Phoenixville Area Early Learning Center, Barkley Elementary, Manavon Elementary, Schuylkill Elementary, Phoenixville Area Middle School, and Phoenixville Area High School. The Phoenixville School District will also be opening a New Elementary School Currently Under Construction for the 2025-2026 School Year. The new elementary school is located in East Pikeland Township and will be named Seven Stars Elementary School.

Litigation

Key administrators of the Phoenixville Area School District have been involved in litigation associated with their administrative duties.

On May 17, 2022, Christopher Gehris, 47, Phoenixville, PA, former business manager for the Phoenixville Area School District, was sentenced to one year and two months in prison and three years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay over $94,000 in restitution for embezzling that amount from the Phoenixville Area School District. From 2013 until 2019, Gehris cashed checks made payable to himself and to “cash,” received checks and direct deposits into his personal checking account for “start-up money” for student activities, stole cash from school programs, and obtained gift cards for personal expenditures – all in furtherance of his embezzlement scheme. He also admitted that he hid his thefts by altering receipts and falsifying reports submitted to the Board of School Directors.^[3]

Melissa “Missy” McTiernan,^[4] the current superintendent, is a defendant in two ongoing lawsuits related to her previous position of Superintendent in the Scranton School District. In the case of Sparacino v. Scranton School District et al,^[5] Scranton teacher Jacqueline Sparacino filed a lawsuit against the district, former Superintendent McTiernan, and Northeast Intermediate School Principal Joseph Hanni. She alleges retaliation, discrimination, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and fraud.^[6]

In a second lawsuit, Brazil v. Scranton School Board et al,^[7] Jeff Brazil, the former Chief Operating Officer of the Scranton School District, claims that Superintendent Melissa McTiernan and former administrator Paul Dougherty pretended to be unaware of the environmental issues to shift the blame away from themselves and persuade the grand jury to indict him.^[8]

References

^ "PHOENIXVILLE AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT DIRECTIONS TO ADMINISTRATION BUILDING^{[permanent dead link]}." Phoenixville Area School District. Retrieved on February 23, 2012. "386 City Line Avenue, Phoenixville, PA 19460"
^ "District Information^{[permanent dead link]}." Phoenixville Area School District. Retrieved on February 23, 2012.
^ "Eastern District of Pennsylvania | Former Phoenixville-Area School District Finance Director Sentenced to Over One Year in Prison For Embezzling District Funds | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
^ "Superintendent". www.pasd.com. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
^ "Sparacino v. Scranton School District et al". UniCourt. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
^ "Scranton teacher sues principal, district for harassment". Yahoo News. 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
^ "Brazil v. Scranton School Board et al". UniCourt. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
^ "Former Scranton school administrator cleared of child endangerment charges sues district, investigators". Yahoo News. 2022-10-02. Retrieved 2024-05-02.

External links

Phoenixville Area School District

Chester County, Pennsylvania schools

Main school districts
Avon Grove	Avon Grove High School
Coatesville Area	Coatesville Area High School
Downingtown Area	Downingtown High School Downingtown STEM Academy
Great Valley	Great Valley High School
Kennett Consolidated	Kennett High School
Owen J. Roberts	Owen J. Roberts High School
Oxford Area	Oxford Area High School
Phoenixville Area	Phoenixville Area High School
Tredyffrin/Easttown	Conestoga High School

Other schools
Charter schools	Achievement House Charter School Avon Grove Charter School Collegium Charter School Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School Renaissance Academy Charter School
Octorara Area	Octorara Junior-Senior High School Other schools are in Lancaster County
Private schools	Center for Arts and Technology Church Farm School Devon Preparatory School Kimberton Waldorf School Malvern Preparatory School The Concept School Upattinas School and Resource Center Westtown School
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia	Bishop Shanahan High School Vanguard School Villa Maria Academy
Spring-Ford Area	Spring-Ford Senior High School Other schools are in Montgomery County
Twin Valley	Twin Valley High School Other schools are in Berks County
Unionville-Chadds Ford	Unionville High School Other schools are in Delaware County
West Chester Area	West Chester East High School West Chester Henderson High School West Chester Rustin High School Other schools are in Delaware County
Sections of the Octorara Area, Spring-Ford, Twin Valley, Unionville-Chadds Ford, and West Chester school districts extend into other counties; only schools in Chester County should be listed in this template