ECASD New Board Director Has Determined Focus on Education

Morella is no stranger to the Ellwood City Area School District Board of Directors as he has served on the board before. He is also invested in the community. Morella grew up in Ellwood City alongside his brother and sister before spreading his wings to earn a BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh and is currently preparing for the Bar Exam after earning a Juris Doctor (JD) from Pitt’s School of Law.

Morella joined the board on July 3 when he replaced former Director Leroy Cortez, who passed away in June. He also had served on the board from 2013 to 2017 and was acting vice president of the board from 2015 to 2016 and also served as a Lawrence County Career and Technical Center representative.

During his first stint on the board, Morella was just 19 years old but felt that he had plenty to offer as a board director.

“I knew firsthand the issues that needed to be addressed,” said Morella.

He had just finished all of his years in the district. Morella attended kindergarten and first grade at Walnut Ridge, second through fourth grades at Perry, fifth and sixth grades at Walnut Ridge, and then his junior and senior high school years at Lincoln.

One of the issues, Morella said, was a lack of technology.

“I spent my first term advocating for investment in technology,” he said.

Morella said his focus was on STEM labs and STEM education and equipping students with Chromebooks—devices which came in handy during the onset and continuation of the pandemic.

As that mindset took off among other board members, and technology began to be a priority in Ellwood City Area School District, Morella, who was no longer serving on the board, watched as SEIU Contracts continued to stall. He felt it was a good time to return.

“I really wanted to get involved in moving the negotiations forward,” he said. “I was pleased to find out upon my return that an agreement had been reached.”

Morella said that although he had his sights set on helping to settle the contract deadlock, there are plenty of other issues to focus on such as getting students back to school safely during a pandemic, the restructuring of the district’s administration, and advocating for education as a first priority.

“I want to put resources as close to students as we can,” he said.

Morella said he plans to approach the meetings collaboratively. And although disagreements may arise between board members, he wants to provide solutions to challenges.

“We are all in this together to provide the best education possible for all of our students,” he said.

Morella trained for a semester at Pitt in dispute resolution and believes that he will be able to see everyone’s point of view when moving forward with decisions.

He said being a school board director is a balancing act that in the end has to serve many different groups.

“It is our duty to represent students, local businesses, and tax payers,” he said. “We have to make tough decisions.”

One of those decisions is how to keep a focus on education while being fiscally responsible.

Morella said he believes in saving money in strategic ways rather than making “cuts.”

Those strategies, according to Morella, include eliminating waste and maximizing human capital.

“I never want to take away resources,” Morella said. “Cutting hurts education. Public education is already underfunded.”

In addition to funding, Morella sees bullying and a lack of inclusion as a big issue facing students across the nation in public schools.

“There is presently a need for making students feel like they are included,” he said.

Morella believes that a young person’s K-12 experience forms their world views and is an important time to take advantage of that.

“We should want our students to be able to look at their time in the ECASD as a good time in their life that helped prepare them for modern day living and challenges,” he said. “If a student leaves the district appreciating and cherishing the time spent here, we know we’ve done our job.”

Morella looks forward to his new role on the board and feels like the district has a long list of strengths. One of which, he said, is the people.

“We have wonderful people at all levels,” he said. “They care about the students and the community.”