McKeesport Area to fill 5 seats on school board

By Michael Richter

mrichter@yourmvi.com 

Four challengers and three incumbents will vie for five open seats on the McKeesport Area School Board Tuesday.

Incumbents Jim Brown, Diane Elias and Joe Lopretto will look to defend their seats, as newcomers Mark Holtzman, Matt Keller, Jason Pavlecic and David Seropian attempt to shake things up.

Lopretto, who’s been a part of the school board for 16 years, had his mayoral campaign stall in the primaries earlier this year, so he’s looking to continue to serve the school district and its stakeholders. 

“I’m running to keep moving forward with the district,” he said. 

Pavlecic, a lifelong White Oak resident, serves as an assistant on McKeesport’s football and basketball coaching staffs. He hopes to bring his “independent thinking” to the school board. 

David Seropian, who served as the district’s business manager for more than 25 years, wants to aid the board with his financial knowledge and background.

The Mon Valley Independent asked each candidate to provide responses to these questions.

What is the district’s most pressing issue? How would you solve it?

Lopretto said safety is his top priority.

“The security company that we have right now, we’re not hearing too many great things about,” he said. 

He added that he’d prefer the district to do away security and just hire police officers.

“I don’t know if we can do that, but it would be a goal of mine if I were to stay on there,” Lopretto said.

According to Seropian, the most pressing issues are always those related to providing the best education for McKeesport students and the safest and best environment in our schools. 

“We do that by being a board that works together in solving each issue before us,”  he said. “We should be reallocating resources to be more directly spent in classrooms and addressing safety and building environment concerns that are unfortunately prevalent in our schools at this time. These are the top issues. We must also solve contract disputes, so that our most valuable resource, the teachers, feel valued in their work and happy and focused coming to work each day.”

Do you feel that school boards are being politicized by national issues making their way into the decision-making at the local level?

Lopretto believes local-level politics influence school board decisions. 

“They need to stay out of it – the school board is the school board,” he said. “Let them make their own minds up and their own choices, not be told what you have to do.”

Pavlecic did not provide a response to this question.

Seropian said board members should be “free of politics.”

“I believe that the climate in national politics may have brought a sense to local elected officials for how they should act at the local level,” he said. 

What skills would you bring to the board?

As a former police officer, Lopretto believes he has the ability to make mindful decisions about students’ safety, and he values fiscal responsibility. 

If elected, Pavlecic said he will bring a fresh perspective to the board. 

Seropian believes his best attributes are his people skills and ability to work well with others.

“I respect everyone, am a good listener and have no desire to do anything other than make good decisions for our students and community,” he said.  “I would also bring a financial expertise to the Board with my background and experience in having worked as a school district business manager for over 30 years and as a consultant to school districts for the past five.”

Incumbents Jim Brown and Diane Elias and candidates Mark Holtzman and Matt Keller were contacted for this story, but did not participate.