Chester Upland hires chief fiscal officer

A former schools business manager and financial consultant has been hired as chief fiscal officer of the Chester Upland School District.

George Crawford, 55, of Allentown, assumed the $167,800-a-year post Monday, state-appointed district receiver Joseph Watkins announced.

Crawford's "financial expertise and his leadership ability will get this district on track financially and help us achieve our vision of making Chester Upland a great school district," Watkins said in a statement.

Crawford, who was awarded a three-year contract, has served as the Allentown School District's chief financial officer, as well as business manager for the Wallingford-Swarthmore, Bangor, and Salisbury districts. He also has been chief of the Pennsylvania Department of Education's fiscal-distressed program, said Becky Taylor, Watkins' spokeswoman.

As a senior consultant with the financial advisory firm PFM, Crawford worked on Chester Upland's academic and financial recovery plan.

That plan calls for improving the schools academically in order to win back students, creating new programs, raising revenue from private sources, and addressing a $3.2 million deficit that is projected to grow to $180 million in five years if nothing is done.

In addition, the plan proposes laying off staff, increasing some class sizes, consolidating schools and selling some district buildings. If the district fails to meet federal progress goals by the end of the 2014-15 academic year, the plan states the schools will be turned over to outside management.

The Chester Upland school board rejected the recovery plan, and the state went to court to have Watkins, a main architect of the plan, appointed receiver, as required by the state's distressed district legislation. The board's only remaining power is the ability to levy taxes.

In a statement issued through Taylor, Crawford said his first priority would be to focus on school consolidation efforts. Over the winter break, the district closed Columbus School and relocated students to the Chester Upland School of the Arts and Toby Farms. He also said he plans to improve budget practices, including instituting multiyear budgeting.

Taylor said Watkins intended to hire a superintendent by April 1.

Crawford intends to relocate to the Philadelphia area, the spokeswoman said.