WEST MIFFLIN STUDENTS TO RETURN TO CLASSES

Students in the West Mifflin Area School District will have the option of returning to the classroom full-time starting Feb. 8.

Board members voted 8-1 at their Jan. 21 meeting to reopen the schools fully. Members Matthew Blazevich, Tony DiCenzo, Judith Ahern, Nick Alexandroff, Bill Bennett, Debbie Kostelnik, Jonathan Mattis and Dave Marshall voted in favor. Gina Englert dissented.

Superintendent Jeffrey Soles said at the meeting that Feb. 8 is the “hard date to bring back in-person learning five days a week for students.”

The date for full in-person instruction is a change from a date of Feb. 1 the district announced earlier this month.

Mr. Soles said students will still have the option to continue with fully remote learning, but the hybrid option will be eliminated starting Feb. 8.

Ms. Englert said she was concerned about the athletic health and safety plan not meshing with a full-return to school.

“I thought it was too vague,” she said of the plan, which she voted against in August. She said the plan does not require student-athletes to wear face coverings while practicing or competing.

“My concern with a full-return to school is that we have not taken the same precautions after school that we do during the day,” she said. She voiced concern that a “return to normal” could cause the school to close again.

Mr. DiCenzo asked Mr. Soles if there had been any COVID-19 outbreaks among the district’s athletic programs thus far.

Mr. Soles said the athletic programs “have been relatively safe,” and that there have been some positive cases, but he said he didn’t think it was any worse than any other school district.

Details on the return-toschool plan will be available on the district’s website, wmasd.org, as part of its Friday update section.

The board of directors also voted to not raise taxes for the 2021-22 school year by more than the district’s Act 1 Index, which is 4.2%

The most the district could raise taxes would be by 1.0658 mills, or about $106 for every $100,000 of assessed property value. The current millage rate in West Mifflin is 25.3765.

Mr. DiCenzo stressed that the vote does not mean that the final budget will include a tax increase. It just gives the board the option to raise taxes by the set amount of 4.2%.

In other matters, the board voted to issue general obligation bonds in the amount of $10,770,000 for the purpose of refunding the district’s 2011 and 2012 bonds. Bond counsel Anthony Ditka said the refinancing of the bonds will only occur if the district can see a savings of at least 2%.

Alisha Henry of PNC Capital Markets said the district could save about $635,000 over the course of the life of the bonds, which extends until 2033. West Mifflin could see a net savings of $135,000.