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Board OK’s 1-Year Deal With Teachers’ Union
NAACP president Sawyer named new chief
By Adam Reinherz
The Tube City Almanac
October 26, 2023
Posted in: McKeesport and Region News
McKeesport Area School Board has OK’d a one-year tentative agreement with the teacher’s union to avert a strike.
The deal, pending approval from the McKeesport Area Education Association, would be retroactive from Sept. 1, 2023, through Aug. 31, 2024. The deal would give a new school board time to negotiate a more lengthy contract following November’s election.
The vote was 8-0, with School Director Steven Kondrosky absent.
District Superintendent Tia Wanzo called the agreement “step one” in resolving the months-long contract dispute. District educators have gone without a contract since Aug. 31.
Wanzo said she expects the union to act quickly, probably by Nov. 1: “They’re going to move quickly through the channels.”
In other business, the board voted to hire Brenda Sawyer of McKeesport as the new district police chief at a salary of $75,000, and accepted the resignation of current chief Robert Boyle. Both moves are effective Oct. 25.
Boyle, who was hired in 2019 following a career with the Pennsylvania State Police, was hired in September as the police chief for West Mifflin Area School District.
Sawyer, who was the first Black female police officer in McKeesport history, most recently served as regional director of the state Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Narcotics Investigation & Drug Control.
In addition to her paid duties, Sawyer also serves as president of the McKeesport unit of the NAACP.
Both Boyle and Sawyer were praised by people attending the meeting.
Nearly 100 people attended Wednesday’s meeting, which was restrained and in sharp contract to the September meeting, which lasted more than two hours and was marked by several angry exchanges between school directors and with members of the audience.
Security remained top of mind for many residents in attendance. On Tuesday, a student was turned over to McKeesport police after a handgun was found in his backpack by school security during a routine screening.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, McKeesport resident Lissa Ludinich said, “Security did a great job yesterday. However, that doesn't erase all of the previous concerns.”
Ludinich was interrupted by School Board President LaToya Wright, who announced, “There was a shooting that happened not long ago, and the shooter is still local.”
District Solicitor Gary Matta announced that for safety reasons, no one would be allowed to enter the building and discouraged members of the audience from leaving.
Adam Reinherz is a freelance writer. He can be reached at adam.reinherz@gmail.com.
Originally published October 26, 2023.
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