Bipartisan Voices for NA Kids and Communities

  Education Subcommittee- December 9, 2020 The Education subcommittee, chaired by Allyson Minton met before the Combined School Board meeting.  Administration reviewed the North Allegheny Cyber Academy (NACA) Highlights for the first part of the year, Special Education Audit Highlights, Pacing Adjustments and Assessment during COVID and Project Lead the Way costs.  You can see the power point at  https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/ nasd/Board.nsf/files/ BW5UDW71566F/$file/Education% 20Committee%2012.9.2020.pptx. pdf Combined  School Board Meeting- December 9, 2020 All School Directors were present. The public could view the meeting online or attend in person. Below is a summary of some of the items and issues that occurred at the Board meeting that may be of interest to our readers.  This is not meant to be inclusive of all that took place at the meeting. Acting Superintendent Dr O’Toole spoke about the district moving to full remote next week and continuing until the Martin Luther King holid

  School Board reorganization meeting, Dec 2, 2020 In a 5 to 4 vote, Andrew Chomos was elected president of the North Allegheny School Board.  Also in a 5 to 4 vote, Marcie Crowe was elected vice president of the Board.

School Board Meeting, Voting Meeting- November 18, 2020 All School Directors were present. The public could view the meeting online or attend in person. Below is a summary of some of the items and issues that occurred at the Board meeting that may be of interest to our readers.   This is not meant to be inclusive of all that took place at the meeting. Roger Sechler, Director of Business Operations presented the Capital Funding Plan. The plan can be found at https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/nasd/Board.nsf/files/BVBQDR6883A4/$file/November%2018%2C%202020%20-%20CAPITAL%20FUNDING%20PLAN%2021-22.pdf The presentation can be found at https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/nasd/Board.nsf/files/BVGSD570F2E9/$file/Capital%20Funding%20Plan%20Presentation%2011-18-2020.pdf Mr Sechler reviewed capital projects from this past year and expected projects for next year.  He also spoke of longer term projects (in the 7 to 10 year range) that may be considered, including studies of feasibility and visioning for consol

Commenters at the meeting, both in person and over the phone, focused on three main concerns for the Board’s consideration. First, community members confronted the Board about attempts to limit public comment in both the October 5th meeting and the October 28th meeting. In the October 5th meeting, the Board limited the number of callers who could speak . At the October 28th meeting, after much pressure from the community prior to the meeting, the Board leadership went from their original plan of only accepting comments from in person speakers, to limitations of one hour of in person speakers and one hour of call in speakers. The public also confronted the Board about the lack of transparency about voting items and attempts to bring forward motions for major changes at the end of long meetings, after public comment had already been cut off and without informing the public of these possible voting items ahead of time. Second, students and parents voiced concerns about the District’s

  All School Directors were present at NASH auditorium. The public could view the meeting online or attend in person. Below is a summary of some of the   items and issues that occurred at the Board meeting that may be of interest to our readers.  This is not meant to be inclusive of all that took place at the meeting.  Current Assistant Superintendent Dr. Melissa Friez will be the new Superintendent of North Allegheny on July 1, 2021. She was approved by a unanimous vote of the Board. Until July 1, Dr. Friez will serve as Deputy Superintendent and Dr. O'Toole will continue in the role of Acting Superintendent.  Course changes to the high school 2021-2022 Program of Studies included the loss of College in High School credit for a number of Technology & Education and Business, Computer & Information Technology courses. There are a number of changes to the Emotional Support courses. Review the changes at  https://go.boarddocs.com/pa/nasd/Board.nsf/files/BULGGG43BC48/$file/2021

  Special School Board Meeting- October 5, 2020 All School Directors were present at Central Administration for the majority of the meeting. Mr Chomos left the meeting and continued participating by phone. The public could view the meeting online, but not attend in person due to COVID. Below is a summary of some of the items and issues that occurred at the Board meeting that may be of interest to our readers. This is not meant to be inclusive of all that took place at the meeting. 41 people registered to speak at the meeting and more than 20 community members called in to speak who were not registered. Board President Rick McClure initially decided to limit public comment to registered speakers only. Kevin Mahler moved to allow all community members to speak. The board compromised and voted to allow at least 18 non-registered community members to offer public comment. Rick McClure made the final decision to end public comment before all those waiting to speak had an opportunity to d