Work won’t be done by start of school
Renovations to Mars Area Middle School will not be completed for the first day of school on Sept. 9, but parents should not worry, school board members said Tuesday.
“Even though we are on schedule, when the students return, it will not be done. It’s going to be exactly where it needs to be, but it won’t look done. And that is part of the plan,” said board President Dayle Ferguson. “But it will be safe. Places where students should not have access to will be quarantined off.”
John Hays from the construction management firm Thomas & Williamson said that some corridors may not have flooring or ceiling tiles, and that contractors “will be working at night” to finish the job after school starts.
He said contractors have had 110 workers on site every day since July 30.
“It’s like a well- orchestrated water ballet in there,” Mrs. Ferguson said.
The board also made a personnel decision, hiring Ryan Morgan as technology director at an annual salary of $ 97,000, effective Sept. 3.
Mr. Morgan now holds the same position with the Norwin School District. The district will retain contractor ITPS for technology, but those employees will report to Mr. Morgan instead of Superintendent Wes Shipley.
ITPS provides technology support and servers for the district. Board member and former superintendent William Pettigrew and solicitor Tom King have ties to the firm but do not participate in any discussions or votes about the contract. Those ties have come under fire repeatedly from district residents. The firm declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy-late last year, and the district is paying for services as they are rendered.
Mrs. Ferguson said Mr. Morgan will build “confidence in our program again.” “We have a lot of work to do, and I am confident that you will lead us in the right direction,” she said.
Mr. Morgan earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Penn State University and is a VMware Certified Professional 4. He previously worked in the West Mifflin Area and South Allegheny school districts.
“I am looking forward to moving Mars forward to the next step in technology,” he said. “If I can get the students and staff half as excited about ‘ tech’ as I am, then I will feel that I have accomplished something.”
The vote to hire Mr. Morgan was 6- 0 with Mr. Pettigrew, Becky Brown and John Kennedy absent.
The board also accepted a check for $ 950 from Mars Mayor Gregg Hartung for students who won categories in the Meet the Mars Challenge, held in conjunction with the borough’s Mars New Year celebration.
The elementary school will receive $ 400, the Centennial School, $ 250 and the middle school, $ 300. The amounts are based on the number of students who participated from each building.
The Meet the Mars Challenge had 35 entries with 49 total students. Students from the Seneca Valley and North Allegheny districts also participated, as well as home- schooled and private school students.
Students had to solve challenges, such as agriculture and mechanical, that settlers on the planet Mars would face.