Ellwood City School Board March Meeting Brief

The following is a brief summary of the Ellwood City Area school board meeting held on March 10:

Recognition

Congratulations to 5th grader Hayden Slade, 5th grader Grady Smith, 4th grader Gabrielle Kalantzis, sophomore Katelyn Cole, 7th grader Samuel DiCaprio and 7th grader Emily Borroni for receiving the 2016 Carson Scholarship. They were among 7300 students nationally to be named Carson Scholars and will each receive a $1,000 college scholarship. This was Grady’s second year being named a Carson Scholar, and he qualified as a 2016 Recognized Carson Scholar.
Congratulations to junior Taylor Petrak, who won the WPIAL 50-yard freestyle and placed second in the 100-yard freestyle. She will be traveling to Bucknell University next weekend to participate in the PIAA Swim finals. Good luck to Taylor and her coach, who is her mom, Patty Petrak!
Congratulations to junior Tyler Alberts, who finished second in the WPIAL wrestling meet and fourth in the Southwest Region. He is competing in the PIAA championships in Hershey now. Good luck to Tyler and his coach, who is his dad, Craig Alberts!
Congratulations to the Duo News Broadcast team of Norman Ballard and Brian Hudson who took second place in a Video Production Contest held at Riverside High School. Also, congratulations to Keith Golebie, who is the ECTV sponsor and teacher.

Revenue/Finance

Public work sessions were approved for work on the 2016-17 General Fund budget. The dates are as follows: Tuesdays, April 5, 19, 26 and May 3 at 6 p.m.

Personnel

The resignation of Jolene Krupa, head coach of the girls basketball team, was accepted. “With regret,” Board member LeRoy Cortez commented. “She did a very good job during her tenure, and her work is appreciated.”
The board approved a motion that the boys basketball coaching position be declared open. This follows the previous resignation of head coach Jim Kosior.
Tom Tomeo was changed from a volunteer wrestling coach to an assistant junior high wrestling coach at a salary of $825.

Athletics and Facilities

Softball Field Maintenance Proposal

The board approved a proposal from Vance’s Landscape Supply Inc. for repair of the softball field in the amount of $7,850. The cost is to be split equally with the Borough of Ellwood City.

Education/Student Affairs

Course guides for the following technology classes were approved: Computer 7, Computer 8, Computer Application 1, Computer Application 2, Desktop Publishing, Engineering 1, Engineering 2, Programming 3, STEM 7 and STEM 8. These courses are part of a plan by the administration to improve the high school’s technology offerings.