ECASD Board of Directors Reject Suggested Amendment to LCCTC Supplemental Articles of Agreement by Neighboring District

The Ellwood City Area School District’s Board of Directors voted to reject a request from a neighboring district to make an amendment to the 1966 Supplemental Articles of Agreement of the Lawrence County Career and Technology Center.

Director Jean Biehls was the lone “yes” vote.

Ultimately the request for amendment, suggested by Sherry Patton, Mohawk School District’s Board President and LCCTC Joint Operating Committee Representative, would force Ellwood City School District to give up a seat on the LCCTC Executive Committee.

The current articles give New Castle four representatives, Ellwood City two representatives, and the other six districts have one representative each. In the letter, Patton proposed removing an “outdated reference to the defunct County School Board” and forming a new amendment where seven of the eight districts would have one vote on the Executive Committee and New castle would be reduced from four votes to two.

According to the letter from Patton, “This is not an uncommon governance structure, as many southwestern Pennsylvania CTCs have this governance structure. More importantly, this revision reflects the reality that the respective population of the component school districts and their student populations are significantly different from the 1960s, when the supplemental articles were adopted.” Read the entire letter here.

ECASD Director Kevin Boariu said one school district should not dictate the situation.

“This is one district acting like a petulant bunch of children,” Boariu said.

ECASD Board President Kathy Galbreath said that Mohawk is jumping the gun as the exploration of the articles is certain to happen in the future. She also was not happy with the suggestion to remove a seat from Ellwood City.

“This is essentially cutting our representation in half,” she said.

Presentation by EDM consultant and ABC Transit on transportation review 2026

During a presentation on transportation review 2026, EDM consultant said the district is spending 3.59% of its budget on transportation at a cost of $1,141 per student. His suggestions to trim the transportation budget included: optimizing fleet usage; improving routing efficiency; controlling costs and increasing efficiency; enhancing safety and reliability; strengthening partnership with contractors; and planning for long-term sustainability.

Some further suggestions included: vocation route consolidation; van route optimization; and future grade tiering (which according to the consultant might increase length of time, travel but would add 6^th graders to the high school run and 5^th graders on the elementary run. A three tier system would include runs for grades 9-12; 6,7,8; and then an elementary run).

Motions passed:

• Motion to approve the minutes from the June 8, 2026, Combined Meeting and the June 17, 2026 Special Meeting.
• Motion to approve the Food Service Management Agreement for the 2026-27 school year.
• Motion to authorize Dr. Amy Anderson to approve change orders on the North Side project up to $15,000.00 effective July 21, 2026, until the end of the project.
• Motion to accept the following resignations:
  • Melvin Beighey – North Side School Police Officer effective July 1, 2026.
  • Ava Ekstam – Elementary Emotional Support Teacher effective August 15, 2026.
  • Mary Sainato – Hartman Custodian, for the purpose of retirement effective September 2, 2026.
• Motion to approve Shawna Bagdes-Canning as the head teacher at North Side Primary for the 2026-27 school year.
• Motion to approve the following additional fall coaches for the 2026-27 school year:
  • John DiBuono – Head Tennis Coach
  • Albert Campman – Assistant Tennis Coach
  • William Baker – Assistant Golf Coach
  • Frank D’Ambrosio – Assistant Cross Country Coach
  • Jeff Gardner – Volunteer Cross Country Coach
  • Nate Brown – Volunteer Cross Country Coach
  • Tom Natale – Volunteer Cross Country Coach
  • Jack D’Addio – Volunteer Soccer Coach
  • Robert Greco – Varsity Football Equipment Manager
• Approve Job Description for Health Office Aide.
• Approve Memorandum of Understanding to create a Health Office Aide position for the 2026-27 school year.
• Transfer Michelle Hall to Emotional Support Classroom for grades 3 and 4 for the 2026-27 school year.
• Approve the following SEIU members to complete summer work for the remainder of July and August:
  • Stephanie Borroni
  • Debra Lewis
• Approve one student for summer help in technology department.
• Motion to hire Dale Catlat as full-time custodian in accordance with current SEIU 32 BJ Bargaining Agreement.
• Approve the following Cafeteria Substitutes for the 2026-27 school year:
  • Michelle Lample
  • Valerie Daniels
  • April McKeag
• Motion to approve the following facility requests:
  1.  Blue Band Boosters is requesting Helling Stadium for its annual Pie Festival on Thursday, August 27, 2026, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.  They are requesting the use of the LHS big gym and cafeteria in case of bad weather.
  2.  Ellwood City Amateur Baseball Federation is once again hosting WKBN-TV live coverage of the Little League Championship as was done last year at Friedhoff field.  The requested date is Wednesday, July 29, 2026, from noon to 9:00 p.m. with a rain date of Thursday, July 30, 2026.
• Approve the following new/revised policy that has been on display since the last meeting:
  1.  Policy #237.1 – Mobile Devices
• Approve changes to the 2026-27 Secondary Student Handbook
• Approve the TSI Plan for Lincoln Jr. Sr. High School as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education and State Board Regulations.