North Allegheny board members receive update on construction at Franklin, McKnight schools
Work to go on despite start of the school year
Cconstruction at two elementary schools is underway for the start of the school year in North Allegheny on Tuesday. While there will still be some items to do at Franklin and McKnight, the work will be done during the evenings and on weekends or will be separated from students.
The school board heard the annual “back to school” report Aug. 26, a report made more complicated by changes brought on by COVID- 19.
North Allegheny will begin the year in a hybrid format, with half of the students attending school on Mondays and Tuesdays and the other half on Thursdays and Fridays. All lessons will be remote on Wednesdays
and the days that students are not physically in the building.
One change is that open houses this year will be virtual, said Melissa Friez, assistant superintendent for secondary education. Also, the district redeployed older iPads “that still had life” so that kindergarten students could have a device, said Richard Platts, director of technology and innovation.
Also, Mr. Platts said, the district purchased 288 “voice amplification” devices so that students watching from home can hear the teachers better, and the “help desk” will be open from 6: 30 a. m. to 4: 30 p. m. to assist with technical difficulties.
The district has also shuffled several principals to provide coverage for the new North Allegheny Cyber Academy.
The board previously appointed Erin Crimone as principal of the cyber school. The district also pulled William McGahee from the senior high and Carla Hudson from McKnight Elementary to serve as assistant principals. Jason Harding, formerly an assistant at the intermediate high school, will be an assistant principal for the cyber academy and Ingomar Middle School.
Jenna Fraser will become an assistant principal for Carson Middle school and the intermediate high school. Matt Buchak will be an assistant principal for the senior high and Marshall Middle School, and John Morey moves from Ingomar Middle to the intermediate high school as an assistant principal.
Marshall and McKnight, the district’s largest elementary schools, lose their assistant principals.
In other business, the board approved a temporary moratorium on the ban of alcohol- based hand sanitizers. Those sanitizers are recommended by the federal Centers for Disease Control to battle the coronavirus.
Board members also discussed livestreaming sports events or banding with other school districts to encourage the state to allow parents to watch their children play in person.
“We need to talk to [ state] representatives and try to put some common sense in this,” said board member Scott Russell. “That would be ideal if we got some kind of movement.”
Also, resident Margaret Irwin told the board she took issue with an anti- racism statement on the district’s website.
The short statement says that the district “stands in solidarity with our black and brown students, families, and staff members. We are committed to diversity, anti- racism, and positive support for our school community.” The statement also notes that the district has not done enough to “build an inclusive community” and it will continue to work on promoting “positive, systemic change in our changing world.”
During recent meetings, current students and alumni spoke about incidents of racism they encountered in school. The students formed NA for Change, which advocates for an anti- racist society and justice for Black people killed by police.
Ms. Irwin said that NA for Change associates with the Black Lives Matter movement and that the reading materials recommended are “highly biased and promote a racist perspective.”
“Such a partnership I don’t think would be in the best interest of the students in the community,” she said. “The board should not accede to any of these NA for Change demands.”