EC school board

Over a dozen visitors filled into the board room on Monday, May 9 to support Athletic Director Darrin Morella, who had offered his letter of resignation to the Ellwood City Area School Board. Although approving the resignation was slated as part of yesterday’s voting meeting agenda, the motion was removed in the interim. Because Morella’s contract is a personnel matter, it is exempt from Pennsylvania’s Open Records Law. The board may hold discussions under executive session and doesn’t have to provide information to the public. However, several visitor comments and unofficial statements indicated a raise was at the heart of…

The following is a brief summary of the Ellwood City Area School Board meeting held on Thursday, May 12. Recognition The district and administration congratulated the varsity softball team and head coach Gary Rozanski. The team finished the season 16-0, won the section and are ranked #1 in the WPIAL Class AA by the Beaver County Times. They will begin the playoff season at 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 18 at Seneca Valley against the winner of a Neshannock vs. Waynesburg Central game on Monday. Revenue/Finance The board rejected a motion to pass the 2016-17 proposed preliminary general fund budget in…

The following is a brief summary of the Ellwood City Area School Board meeting held on April 14: Recognition: The board recognized junior Taylor Petrak for finishing second in the 50-yard freestyle and third in the 100-yard freestyle at the swimming PIAA Championship at Bucknell University. Petrak has now earned five PIAA state medals, more than any athlete in Ellwood City history. Congratulations! Personnel Timothy Robinson was approved as a bus driver for the remainder of the 2015-16 school year and the 2016-17 school year. The board approved six student teachers for the 2016-17 school year. The board approved the…

At its voting meeting tonight, the Ellwood City school board will consider allowing Walmart and Kmart to sell Ellwood City school district-themed clothing. The agreement would be negotiated through Pel Industries, an athletic apparel company. During the board’s agenda meeting on Monday, Business Manager Richard Zarone said the district had attempted a similar arrangement before with a different company, but it hadn’t worked out. The school would receive eight percent royalties from sales. Vice President Matt Morella was concerned that such an arrangement would hurt local businesses. Board member Kathy Pansera noted that Beaver County Walmarts already sell t-shirts for…

Following a discussion regarding the food service policy that prevents students with a deficit of $6.75 from eating lunch, the Ellwood City Area school board decided to leave the policy as is after all members except President Renee Pitrelli and Vice President Matt Morella agreed. At Thursday’s regular meeting, Carmelia Fury, director of Holy Redeemer Social Services, presented a written statement to the board in which she criticized this decision. The statement said the board shouldn’t base such policies on financial concerns and that all students should be able to eat. She added that the board should find out why…

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…