MASD OKs website update through AIU; honors students
Director Jason Pavlecic dissented, arguing that the $12,940 annual cost is too expensive.
The McKeesport Area school board approved a proposal Thursday that would allow the district to update its website through the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, but not everyone agreed on it.
All board members who were present, except Director Jason Pavlecic, voted in favor of a proposal with the AIU for website update and management services at a cost of $12,940. Mark Holtzman and Arla Payne did not attend the meeting.
Board President David Seropian said the district wants to at least try the AIU arrangement for a year. Pavlecic disagreed with the cost, stating it’s not a responsible use of district funds.
“I just feel that’s something that could be handled internally within the district,” Pavlecic said. “That $12,000 could be better spent somewhere else.”
According to Seropian, staff within the district have already been managing the website, but said they can’t focus on it full-time.
“Right now, it’s being managed by one of our administrators, but she has other responsibilities, and so she doesn’t have the time necessarily to keep it up to date the way we’d like it to be updated,” Seropian said. “I don’t think we’re the only district. There are probably several districts that use the AIU to maintain their website, so they provide that service.”
Under a proposal presented by the AIU to the district, McKeesport Area was offered a choice of three packages with varying prices and services. There was a minimum, standard and a “best practice” package.
The minimum package costs $4,960, the standard package is $8,440, and the best practice package carries a price tag of $12,940. Based on the motion approved on Thursday, the district chose the best practice package.
According to the proposal, the main difference between the standard package and the package that the district chose is that the “best practice” includes the creation of a district marketing video, 60 seconds in length, and a review of website policies/procedures. The other packages included offered fewer services.
New CTE programs
Also Thursday, Director Kevin Kovach highlighted two new career and technical educational programs that the district has added. One is the “Aspiring Educators” program that aims to help students get a head start on college credits.
The other program helps students begin careers in emergency services or law enforcement. Dr. Jamie Lusebrink, the director of CTE, said both programs attempt to help students get ahead before they graduate from high school.
“They can get a head start on the police academy and things like that,” Lusebrink said. “So we’re looking at firefighters, paramedics and police officers, but also looking at students who might be interested in going to college for criminal justice. Two of the students we have right now want to go for law so they’re going to get ahead and start on college for that as well.”
In other business:
• The district recognized five student athletes of the month. Alessanda Schillaci, Marek Krol and Maggie Badstibner were at the meeting.
