Brevity, Budget Focus of MASD Board

Student voices and activities prioritized at placid meeting

By Adam Reinherz
The Tube City Almanac
March 23, 2022
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News

In contrast to recent meetings, where heated confrontations took center stage, Tuesday’s meeting of the McKeesport Area School Board was brief, on time and student-focused.

After congratulating students and coaches on athletic achievements, including postseason success for McKeesport’s Color Guard and Girls Basketball and Bowling teams, School Board President Mindy Lundberg humorously commented on the board’s punctuality by saying, “We’re out on time today, so that’s even a bigger accomplishment.”

Highlighting the 40-minute combined open agenda and school board meeting was an audit presentation by Peter J. Vancheri, of Hosack, Specht, Muetzel & Wood LLP.

Vancheri’s report noted that during the school year ending June 30, 2021, the district’s expenditures exceeded its revenues by about $1.1 million — revenues for the year were $71 million, with approximately $61 million in expenditures and almost $10.6 million in other uses.

The $1.1 million excess was less than the nearly $4 million the board anticipated when it previously set its budget, Vancheri said.  

Also of note was an $185,000 decrease in money spent through the district’s food service fund.

Vancheri called the decreased sum “somewhat deceiving,” and cited COVID-19 — and its effect on in-person student attendance — as the reason why fewer free meals were served to area students.

During a public comment period, Shayla Boyd, an eighth grader at Founders Hall Middle School, informed the board that the dress code, which was adopted a decade ago, “needs to change.”

The policy, which requires students to wear collared shirts and other “business casual” clothes, negatively impacts student learning and contributes to poor attendance, Boyd said. “Some kids will miss a full week of school simply because they have no collared shirt to wear.”

Additionally, when students are uncomfortable they lack confidence.

“I struggled with the dress code and how it's made me feel for a very long time,” Boyd said.

After concluding her remarks with a proposal to pilot a new dress code policy at Founders Hall Middle School, Boyd was applauded by board members.

Superintendent Mark Holtzman Jr. told Boyd he remembered her from an essay she’d delivered during Black History Month, and that either he or Assistant Superintendent Tia Wanzo would circle back to the student about her proposal.

Following the meeting, Boyd and her father, Chae Boyd, both said they were confident in the district’s ability to heed student concerns.

More importantly, Chae Boyd added that he was exceptionally proud of his daughter for sharing her sentiments with the school board.

“She's taking steps in life that a lot of people would be afraid to do,” Boyd said.  

Adam Reinherz is a freelance writer. He can be reached at adam.reinherz@gmail.com

Originally published March 23, 2022.

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