District hires new director of special ed

The new director of special education in the Mars Area School District is very familiar with what needs to be done to correct deficiencies in the district’s special education plans.

The school board hired Travis Mineard at an annual salary of $118,000. His contract is effective July 1, but Mr. Mineard, who holds a similar position in the Ambridge Area School District, cannot start at Mars Area until he is released from his current post. That date has not been determined.

When he was hired at Ambridge Area, that district was on a five-year plan with the state Department of Education to fix problems in its special educationprogram, he said.

“I’ve been there. I’ve done that. And I think that I am going to be a very good fit in Mars,” he said. “I can’t wait to meet the families, the students and the teachers.”

He holds a master’s degree in school administration from Duquesne University; a master’s degree in educational psychology and a school psychology specialist certificate from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Clarion University of Pennsylvania,and a letter of assistant superintendent eligibility fromWestminster College.

Prior to Ambridge Area, he was coordinator of special education and school psychologist at Western Beaver County School District.

School board President J. Dayle Ferguson described Mr. Mineard as “experienced,proven and comforting.”

“We believe that he will be able to lead us through the corrective action process and offer us true leadership,” she said. “We are in very good, very steady hands.”

Mars Area was cited by the state Department of Education for deficiencies in a 2017 audit. Two of the deficiencies were also cited in a 2012 audit.

The district’s biggest issue both times is that special education students are not being taught in the “least restrictive environment,” according to the audit. The district also is out of compliance in parent and staff training, but does not need to work on a corrective action plan for thoseitems.

Mars Area could lose some or all of its state funding for special education if the state does not approve of the corrective action plan.